Next buys Cath Kidston for £8.5m after UK retailer collapses

The Cath Kidston brand name was bought for 8.5 m, after the British retailer fell into administration for the second time in two years.

It is believed that around 125 jobs are at risk as administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers are set to close the four UK Cath Kidston stores in London, Ashford, Cheshire Oaks and York once stock is sold off. The website of the brand is licensed back to the administrators for 12 weeks.

Next has the rights to distribute US fashion chains Gap and Victoria s Secret in the UK, while fashion brand Joules and online furnishings specialist Made.com were bought out of administration by Next, which is the latest step taken by Next to add to its brand portfolio.

The clothing and homewares retailer is using its expertise in online marketing and distribution to help ailing brands maintain a presence in the UK. It is using some of these brands to fill spare space in its high street stores while broadening their appeal to a wider audience.

Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said that Cath Kidston is a well-loved lifestyle brand and I am pleased to say that it has been bought by Next, who will make sure it continues to flower under their ownership.

The company has navigated through a lot of challenging market conditions over the past few years, including the Pandemic restrictions and the decline in consumer spending due to cost of living pressures and rising costs. Cath Kidston, known for its whimsical retro prints, once had 60 UK stores as well as franchise outlets around the world. It was bought by restructuring experts Hilco in July 2020 but was put on the market earlier this year.

The brand's eponymous founder, an interior designer who worked with celebrity decorator Nicky Haslam, opened her first store in 1993 in Notting Hill, selling decorated tea towels and Bric-a-brac.

She sold her stake in the business a number of years ago, and the brand previously called in administrators in April 2020 as part of an attempted rescue deal by Hong Kong-based Baring Private Equity Asia.