- Next rescues Joules from administration, saving 100 shops and 1,450 jobs
- 24 stores are to close with the loss of about 130 jobs.
- Joules distinctive ranges will join the Next Total Platform.
- Next share price down around 1% in trading today
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
‘’Once again Next is riding to the rescue of a beleaguered brand, but it’s not without risk. The deal with founder Tom Joules will see the distinctive wellies, coats and fleeces sold alongside its directory of other brands at a time when consumer spending power has taken a hit.
Although this is a tried and tested strategy with Reiss, Gap and Victoria Secret also sold on the Total Platform, with Next scooping up commissions on sales there are niggles of worry that this retail powerhouse could soon be biting off more than it can chew. It’s already scooped up the distressed furniture chain Made.com, after its sales were sideswiped by a drop in pandemic demand and the cost of living crisis. It’s now the trouble shooter for another embattled company, which has been slow to move with the fashion times, and has appeared stuck in a rut of Cotswold chintz.
As well as needing back office digital support to get sales going again, Joules will also need a helping hand in shaking up its ranges to offer heritage with a more modern twist. Meanwhile Next also has to devote attention to the effect of soaring inflation on its wider business which is looming large over the group’s customer base and regardless of management’s best efforts, it’s likely to squeeze margins.’’
