Fresh Peacocks blow as ‘suitors pull out’

Thousands of staff at collapsed retailer Peacocks were facing further uncertainty yesterday amid reports that only one company remained in the race to salvage the firm.

The chain, which has 563 stores and 48 concessions, and parent company, Peacock Group, collapsed under a debt mountain last month in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 7,500 jobs in jeopardy.

Indian textile and clothing giant S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL) is understood to be the only remaining suitor for the business after interest from bid rivals Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Pakistani clothing giant Alshair Fiyaz faded, according to reports.

Fashion chain Bonmarche, which was part of the Peacock Group, was sold last month in a deal that will lead to 1,400 job losses and 160 store closures. Private equity firm Sun European Partners bought 230 stores and will continue to employ 2,400 staff.

A spokesman for administrator KPMG declined to comment.

Peacocks can trace its history back to Warrington, in Cheshire, in 1884 when Albert Frank Peacock founded Peacock’s Penny Bazaar. In 1940, his son Harold moved the business to its current base in Cardiff.