Edinburgh Woollen Mill negotiates pandemic clauses for Bonmarché leases

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 17, 2020

A number of retail landlords have reportedly agreed to include a pandemic clause in new Bonmarché leases, allowing the retailer to take on new shop leases without paying any rents until the lockdown is lifted.

The move is being led by Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which bought Bonmarché out of administration through its Peacocks business in November last year.

The clauses mean that the company can agree on new store leases for the Wakefield-based womenswear brand without having to pay any rents upfront until non-essential retail stores are allowed to reopen.

It also protects the company should further coronavirus waves occur in the future, as the clauses mean that rents will be paused and, in some cases, refunded by landlords, Retail Week reported.

The clauses are only being added to new lease agreements for Bonmarché stores.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which has more than 400 retail stores across the UK, has closed all stores and its head office in Carlisle in an effort to keep staff safe during the pandemic.

The business has reportedly made more than 100 redundancies across the group following a collapse in footfall in early March.