Beales department store at risk of collapse

The Bournemouth based retailer Beales is at risk of collapse if they cannot find a last-minute buyer, placing around 1,000 jobs at risk.

The department chain store is hopeful they will secure a rescue deal; however, the company could be forced into administration.

Beales has 22 department stores across the UK and is the latest retailer to feel the pressure of high business rates along with the high street trading woes many stores are facing.

Chief executive Tony Brown told local newspaper The Daily Echo they have been struggling with the “lunacy” of soaring business rates.

Brown told the newspaper, “We are confident that we have a solution for the business that will create a stronger if leaner Beales.

“We hope to have a stronger business at the end of the process. I can’t predict which stores will stay and which stores won’t because it all depends on landlords and local government.

“We’re going through a process and we hope to be able to restructure the business for a profitable future.”