Ted Baker sheds 160 jobs in cost cutting drive
Struggling fashion brand Ted Baker has announced it will cut 160 jobs in a bid to reduce costs after a “challenging year”.
The retailer said today that a reorganisation of head office and business functions would result in 102 redundancies, while 58 jobs that are currently vacant will not be filled.
It expects the shake-up to reduce costs by £5m in the current financial year and by £7m on an annualised basis. The cost cutting exercise will incur a cash restructuring charge of £2.7m, which will be taken in the current year.
In a strategic update this morning Ted Baker also said that today’s job cuts were “the first of a range of expected initiatives to improve the efficiency and cost structure of the group”.
Acting chief executive Rachel Osborne said: “The changes we are announcing today are difficult because colleagues across the business have been working hard in what has been a challenging period for Ted Baker. I would like to thank all of them for their commitment and the passion they have shown for the business.
“The Board and I believe that we will only realise Ted’s long-term potential by transforming the way the business operates and the actions we are announcing today are important steps in that transformation.”
Ted Baker also outlined other strategic plans including re-energising the brand, extending product lines and improving its online shopping proposition.
Earlier this week Sky News reported that the retailer was close to selling its “Ugly Brown Building” headquarters in London as it attempted to bolster its balance sheet following a torrid year.
Ted Baker is reportedly in talks with the British Airways’ pension scheme to sell a big stake in the North London office, which could raise tens of millions of pounds for the retailer.
The fashion brand revealed last month that an accounting black hole was more the double the size originally estimated, coming in at £58m compared to £25m.