York’s Pavers acquires four Brantano stores out of administration

Pavers, the footwear retailer headquartered in York, has bought four Brantano Footwear shoe shops from administrators PwC for an undisclosed price.

The stores are located in Lincoln, Bournemouth, Newton Abbot and Newport (Isle of Wight).

Brantano, owned by private equity firm Alteri, has struggled following Brexit and the drop in the value of the pound as well as experiencing difficult trading conditions.

Last month the Leicestershire-headquartered company, which operates 73 stores and 64 concessions across the UK, appointed Tony Barrell and Mike Jervis of PwC as joint administrators.

Tony Barrell, lead administrator at PwC, said: “Despite significant improvements in the business and reductions in the cost base, trading has continued to suffer in a depressed and competitive footwear market.

“Like many other retailers, Brantano has also been hit hard by the sharp decline in sterling, the ongoing shift in consumer shopping habits and the evolution of the UK retail environment.”

Earlier this month, Pavers announced it is embarking on a expansion programme despite its failed bid for the ailing Jones The Bootmaker. Although the bid was ultimately unsuccessful, Pavers remained determined to strengthen its position the in the footwear sector both in the UK and internationally.

Stuart Paver, managing director of Pavers, explained: “We have recently made it clear that Pavers is embarking on a period of carefully planned and focussed expansion. The opportunity presented by Brantano Footwear going into administration fitted perfectly into our expansion plans, allowing us to move into areas of the UK where we are under-represented, whilst paying a sensible price.

“The jobs at all four stores will be safe and we expected to rebrand and be trading within six to eight weeks. Some of these sites are quite large so we’ll be looking to go in with some complementary concessions.”

The footwear retailer has been strengthened by the appointment of Jason Paver, grandson of founder Catherine Paver, as director of sales. Jason joined Pavers last year, having previously been an executive director with Goldman Sachs in London and New York.

Pavers, which had annual sales of more than £105m in 2016, has overseas operations in India, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.

Mr Paver added: “We are now determined to increase our presence and portfolio in the high street, especially in the south of England, and this is one of our main objectives in the next couple of years. So the opportunity to buy four Brantano stores was very opportune.

“Taken in conjunction with the opening of a new store at Singapore Airport and major expansion plans at our headquarters at Northminster Business Park in York, the future of Pavers looks extremely bright.”