Uncertainty as fashion chain Jane Norman seeks buyer

The business, which caters for 15- to 25-year-olds, is reported to be facing administration unless it can secure a buyer in the next few days.

If it fails to pull through, a Sunday newspaper said Edinburgh Woollen Mill is the frontrunner to buy the Jane Norman name, its 90 stores and stock through a pre-pack administration deal.

The retail sector is already reeling from a week of high-profile failures after Habitat’s UK shops outside London and Homeform, the owner of Dolphin bathrooms and Moben kitchens, were put into administration.

Kesa Electricals is also said it was weighing up its options for Comet, including the possible sale of the 200-strong chain.

The high street and smaller shopping malls are bearing the brunt of the slump in consumer confidence and the rise in internet shopping.

They have seen shop vacancies rise after a raft of administrations and restructurings, including Mothercare’s plans to close 110 outlets in order to focus on out-of-town superstores. HMV and Game are also downsizing their estates.

Other suitors for the Jane Norman chain could include Oasis and Warehouse owner Aurora Fashions and Debenhams, which houses around 90 Jane Norman concessions and has a change-of-ownership clause in its contract with the chain.

While Edinburgh Woollen Mill’s interest will come as a surprise, the knitwear firm has a record of turning around troubled companies after it bought 77 stores from the administrators for textiles business Rosebys in November 2008. They were merged with the assets of furnishings business Ponden Mill to create the 150-strong Ponden Home chain.

The group has nearly 200 stores under the Woollen Mill brand, most of which are situated in the south of England.

It was also reported yesterday that managers at Clinton Cards have approached several banks and investors with a plan to delist the company in order for it to weather the consumer downturn away from the glare of the stock market.

The group, which posted a 70 per cent fall in half-year profits in March, has 8,500 staff serving 650 Clinton branded stores and 170 under the Birthdays brand.