Historic department store chain and housewares stockist Beales has fallen into administration. It appointed KPMG as administrator this morning (January 20) following a board meeting.
Last week the retailer filed a notice of intent to appoint an administrator, but also held talks with undisclosed buyers in hopes of avoiding the development. Beales has 22 stores and is one of the UK’s oldest stores, having been founded in Bournemouth by John Elmes Beales in 1881.
In the financial year to March 2019, Beales reported that its losses had almost doubled to £3.1m. Ceo and owner Tony Brown has said that huge business rates bills and poor trading conditions have been major factors in the chain’s downfall. Tony bought the business in a management buyout in October 2018, put it on the market in December 2019, and has been trying to secure rent reductions to reduce costs.
There have been no announcements of closures as yet, with stores currently remaining open during the administration process.
Property consultancy firm Colliers International has estimated that (when adding up four years of overpayment) Beales paid £1.06 million in excess of the business rates it should have paid in the years since revaluation. John Webber, head of business rates at Colliers describes the retailer as “the latest victim of the absurdity of the business rates system, particularly transitional relief.”
