Oasis and Warehouse to permanently close all 92 stores

The group behind retailers Oasis and Warehouse will cease trading after its administrators failed to find a buyer for the business, meaning that its 92 stores may never reopen after lockdown. The retailers’ leasehold portfolio covers around 240,000 sq ft, excluding concessions, according to Radius Data Exchange. Certain stock and intellectual property assets associated with the group will be acquired by Hilco Capital. Outside of these assets the group, which also includes The Idle Man and Bastyan Fashions, will cease online trading and all stores will close “indefinitely”. The collapse has resulted in 1,803 job losses. Administrators at Deloitte had carried out a “rapid assessment” of the costs associated with maintaining the business in the short term. However, it decided last week to temporarily stop online trading as a result of rising costs of fulfilling online orders and associated logistical challenges. Deloitte said that when it became clear that a sale of any part of the business as a going concern would “not be possible”, the decision was taken to accelerate a sale of some of the group’s assets. Rob Harding, joint administrator at Deloitte, said: “Covid-19 has presented extraordinary challenges which have devastated the retail industry. It is with great sadness that we have to announce a sale of the business has not been possible and that we are announcing so many redundancies today. “This is a very difficult time for the group’s employees and other key stakeholders and we will do everything we can to support them through this.” To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette