Jigsaw creditors approve CVA plan, 13 shops to shut

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 4, 2020

Jigsaw has received backing from its creditors for its CVA plan with the firm telling Fashionnetwork.com that it will close 13 of its stores.

That’s fewer stores than had been tipped to close. But with 13 shutting up for good and a big chunk of the rest switching to turnover-based rents, the business is continuing to confront a downturn that pre-dated the pandemic.

The company, which currently has 74 UK stores and employs 900 people in Britain, has struggled for some time. But its pre-crisis problems were made so much worse by the enforced closure of stores during lockdown and consumers’ fairly anaemic return to stores since reopening. 

The stores slated for closure include those in what were previously prestigious and busy locations, such as Westfield London, Bluewater in Kent, Manchester and Birmingham.

A spokesperson for Jigsaw said: “We are pleased that the proposal has been accepted by the majority of our creditors. The arrangement puts the company on solid footing moving forwards, and allows us to execute our turnaround strategy by refocusing the company on its core business as a women’s British Heritage brand, in what is our 50th year anniversary.” 

Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint supervisor of the CVA said: “The successful CVA proposal ensures that the business is well-placed to trade in the current retail environment, and is an important step in the company’s wider review of its operations.”

Jigsaw is only the latest in a raft of retailers to be closing stores and moving to turnover-based rents and to be doing so via a CVA. Landlords are themselves under heavy pressure and are unhappy about the development overall. But they have little choice given the low demand for retail space at present, particularly in once-buzzing covered malls and city centres.