Mothercare to close 110 in-town stores

Rents will be cut on a further 40 stores, the Watford-based group said yesterday, and its new focus will be on out-of-town Parenting Centres, which contain its Early Learning Centre brand.

Most of the closures will be stores where the lease expires over the next two years. Mothercare has 120 of these, which will limit the cost to £5m. Total store numbers in the UK will decline from 373 to 266, with 102 of these set to be out-of-town Parenting Centres.

The group, which warned about weak UK sales in March, said it expects big savings from the restructuring. Its problems meant pre-tax profits fell from £32.5m to £8.8m in the year to March, despite another strong performance from its international business, where sales jumped by 16 per cent.

Mothercare has already reduced its in-town estate by a quarter in the last three years.

As well as reducing its exposure to the high street, it will invest in the remaining estate and has developed new store formats, one for Mothercare and one for the Early Learning Centre.

“The formats provide an improved shopping environment, enhanced displays, signage and store layouts and better Early Learning Centre positioning in Mothercare stores,” the company said.

Mothercare’s announcement comes a day after the retail guru Mary Portas launched a campaign to rejuvenate high street shopping.