House of Fraser management "dismissed"

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 1, 2018

As stock exchange statements go it was certainly short, but definitely not sweet. Late on Monday, Sports Direct announced a senior House of Fraser management clearout.

“Following the collapse of House of Fraser on August 10 2018, and subsequent calls for an investigation into the circumstances of that collapse, the company today announces that we have dismissed the former directors and senior management of House of Fraser,” was all that it said.

It’s interesting that it appears to calling for a probe into the events leading up to the retailer’s collapse and it could get support from a number of suppliers who newspapers have suggested are concerned that important information was withheld from them as the chain lurched towards its eventual administration filing. 

Sports Direct, under billionaire boss Mike Ashley, bought the department store out of administration for £90 million in August and has been focused since then on trying to keep as many stores open as possible. But he has faced a raft of issues that saw the e-tail site closed for several weeks and stores running low on stock, plus customer complaints about promised refunds not happening.

The news about the management sackings came as the firm’s talks with store landlords continued with many still resisting Ashley’s terms. Agreements still have to be made on a big chunk of the stores to avoid them closing, but it seems that the rent cuts of up to 70% or the business-rates-only deals struck elsewhere are a step too far for some under-pressure property owners.

On Monday it emerged that the Shrewsbury store will close and there have been unconfirmed reports suggesting that the Exeter store will also close next year.