UK's Bank confirms 20 store closures

Young British fashion retailer Bank is closing 10 more stores by Sunday March 1, taking the number of closures since it entered administration in January to 20, according to CoStar UK.

Bank, which has 84 stores in total, appointed Deloitte as its administrator after its owner, restructuring specialist Hilco, decided it was unable to turn the troubled retailer around. Deloitte is now looking for a rescue deal and has received expressions of interest.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that ten stores would be closed by February 22nd, with up to 155 redundancies.

On Thursday it was announced that another 10 stores will now close by March 1: Bristol Cabot Circus, Dundee, Inverness (Oot), Leamington Spa, Llanelli (Oot), Macclesfield, Middlesbrough, Romford, Stevenage (Pop Up) and Wrexham. This makes for 20 closures in total. As many as 158 employees are at risk of being made redundant due to the new store closures.

Bill Dawson, Joint Administrator and partner in Deloitte’s Restructuring Services practice, said after the first 10 store closures were announced: "While we continue to talk to interested parties about a sale of parts of the business, the under-performance of certain stores has necessitated the closures announced today. We are working with the staff in the affected stores to identify any alternative employment opportunities within other Bank stores."

"We would like to thank the company’s employees for their ongoing support and professionalism during this difficult period."

The retailer will continue to operate from its remaining 64 stores as well as online.

UK's Bank confirms 20 store closures

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