Peacocks and Jaeger fall into administration, threatening 4,700 jobs

High street fashion retailers Jaeger and Peacocks have fallen into administration, putting more than 4,700 jobs at risk.

Bosses at the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which owns both brands, failed to secure new buyers within a two-week deadline.

It comes less than a fortnight after two other brands in the EWM group – Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Hill – were plunged into administration, leaving 866 people without employment and permanently shuttering 64 stores.

“Jaeger and Peacocks are attractive brands that have suffered the well-known challenges that many retailers face at present,” said joint administrator Tony Wright, from FRP Advisory.

“We are in advanced discussions with a number of parties and working hard to secure a future for both businesses.”

No redundancies have been announced yet and no stores closed.

Bosses at Jaeger and Peacocks had been granted another extension by the High Court in their search for a buyer, but this deadline passed this week.

Founded in 1946, the Carlisle-based Edinburgh Woollen Mill specialised in knitware and homeware, and is owned by entrepreneur Philip Day, whose EWM group employs more than 20,000 people. Mr Day has a £1.14bn fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

Lockdown restrictions and health fears have decimated sales among the group’s core customer base of overseas tourists and the elderly