1,400 jobs to go in Bonmarche deal

Private equity firm Sun European Partners, which also owns the Alexon and Jacques Vert brands, has bought the women’s clothing retailer, which was part of the collapsed Peacocks Group, out of administration.

Sun agreed a so-called pre-pack deal for an undisclosed sum.

The agreement covers the entire chain apart from three stores, with the firm continuing to run 230 outlets and closing around 160.

The store closures mean it will continue to employ about 2,400 of the chain’s 3,800 strong workforce.

The staff in stores set for the axe are expected to find out shortly. The company said it was too early to release a list of sites to be closed.

Bonmarche, founded in 1982, was part of the Peacocks Group, which last week collapsed into administration under its £750 million debt mountain in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 9,600 jobs in jeopardy.

But whereas administrators at KPMG were called in to take charge of the Peacocks chain, Bonmarche was kept out of administration to allow sale talks to continue.

The deal means the Bonmarche name will survive on the high street, albeit with fewer stores. The chain is one of the UK’s largest women’s-only value retailers and sells affordable clothing in a wide range of sizes to women over 45 years old.

Sun vice-president, Matthias Gundlach, said: “Bonmarche is a great brand that operates in an attractive niche of the apparel sector that we know very well.”