A third of Quiz’s UK outlets may have to close as the mainstay of the British high street completes its rescue plans. This comes after the store warned that it will run out of money in the first part of 2025.
The Ramzan family, Quiz’s founders, are in charge of the rescue efforts, which are expected to result in hundreds of job losses, according to reports.
This is in light of the womenswear retailer’s planned stock exchange delisting this week. Earlier this month, 98 per cent of shareholders decided to delist and re-register as a private limited company. The shares of Quiz will stop trading on 23rd January. It will formally re-register as a private limited business on 27th January.
As many British retailers get ready for impending increases in employers’ national insurance imposed by the Government, the prospect of store closures adds to the air of doom on the high street. Quiz currently employs about 1,500 people and runs 62 stores and 47 concessions throughout the UK.
Teneo, a restructuring expert, has been assigned by Quiz to turn the company around. Sources claim that it is eager to shut down the chain’s underperforming locations in an effort to reduce expenses.
A corporate voluntary arrangement (CVA) and a pre-pack administration are also being considered.
Quiz’s financial situation started to deteriorate in December when the store issued a warning that it would require immediate funding due to weak sales. Spending over the Black Friday weekend “only modestly” offset the “significant reduction in revenues” caused by a year-over-year decline in in-store traffic in November, according to the report.
According to Quiz’s most recent report, which was released on 27th December, the company’s pre-tax losses for the six months ended September 30 increased dramatically from US $ 1.83 million to US $ 5.73 million. Due to a “marked decline in traffic both online and in-store” last month, sales fell 7.5 per cent to US $ 47.68 million.
