The weekend newspaper round up (July 12-13)

Dawnay Day, the owner of Austin Reed, has called in the administrators

Dawnay Day, the owner of Austin Reed, has called in the administrators

A round up of the best fashion business stories from the weekend's newspapers...

The Sunday Times reported that financial conglomerate Dawnay Day, which owns the Austin Reed chain, has called in administrators Ernst & Young to carry out a restructure of its businesses.

Guy Naggar and Peter Klimt, who run the business, appointed the administrators after failing to secure a last-ditch fundraising, according to the newspaper.

Dawnay Day was forced to sell a 20% stake in F&C Asset Management at a loss of more than £80 million on Friday.

It is unclear which of the group's businesses will be affected by the review.

The Sunday Times also said that sales at Arcadia's fashion chains Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge London's Oxford Street have busted the £1 billion barrier.

Owner Sir Philip Green said that younger shoppers were still spending and that Topman sales were up double digits like-for-like, with significant gains at Topshop and Miss Selfridge.

The business will open 50 new stores including in new markets such as Japan, China and India, and expand its presence in Russia.

The Mail on Sunday reported that sports chain Sports Direct, owned by Mike Ashley, has been buying stores from rival JJB Sports.

It said that JJB, which is run by Ashley's former colleague Chris Ronnie, has offloaded at least 12 stores to its rival as part of plans to close more than 70 loss-making stores.

However, the newspaper said that not all the stores were unprofitable and that last week Sports Direct employees were staffing the Ealing Broadway shop in London, and that the store had made a profit of £165,000 last year.

It added that the Walthamstow branch, also due to close, made a profit of £81,000. 


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