Stratford branch of Joules survives as Next takes majority stake in fashion brand
THE Stratford branch of Joules has not been included among the 19 stores which will be closed following a deal to save the troubled fashion brand.
Founder of the company Tom Joule and retailer Next have bought Joules, saving around 1,450 jobs.
However, 19 shops will be shut and 133 jobs axed.
Joules, which has a branch in Stratford High Street, had called in specialists Interpath Advisory last month after failing to secure emergency funding.
A £34 million deal to save the firm will see Next take a 74 per cent stake in the business, with Mr Joule owning 26 per cent.
Next also bought Joules’s head office in Market Harborough for £7m.
Mr Joule said: “After three years away from the operational side, I’m truly looking forward to inspiring teams with clear direction to excite and recapture the imagination of the customer again.
“I’m so pleased that we have been able to strike a deal that protects the future of the company for all its loyal customers, its employees and also for the town of Market Harborough, which have been so central to Joules’s success.”
The stores that will be closing are:
- Carmarthen
- Cheltenham
- Chichester
- Edinburgh
- Exeter
- Gateshead
- Lyme Regis
- Newbury
- Northcote Road
- Oxford
- Peak Village
- Peterborough
- Reigate
- Salcombe Fore Street
- Sherborne
- Southwold Little Joule
- St Davids
- Waterloo
- Watford
