One of the UK’s oldest department stores - which has a branch in Mansfield town centre - could soon leave the high street after warning it faces collapsing into administration.
Beales, which has an outlet in the Four Seasons shopping centre, has said it could face collapse if it fails to find a last-minute buyer, putting around 1,000 jobs at risk nationally.
The chain has 22 stores nationwide and is another high street name to feel the pressure of declining high street footfall.
Last month, the company hired advisers from Netherlands-based accountancy firm KPMG to lead a strategic review in order to find a profitable future for the business.
Chief executive Tony Brown told The Daily Echo that the retailer has struggled with difficult trading conditions and criticised the "lunacy" of high business rates.
He said: "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."
The retailer was taken into private ownership by Mr Brown in 2018, 23 years after the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange.
Based in Bournemouth and established in 1881, the retailer is understood to be hopeful that a rescue deal can be secured.
Beales is currently in talks with landlords over rent reductions and it has been reported that the firm has also spoken with two potential buyers, including a venture capital investor and a rival retail business.
Beales stores are located in the following towns and cities:
- Beccles
- Bedford
- Bournemouth
- Chipping Norton
- Diss
- Fareham
- Hexham
- Keighley
- Kendal
- Lowestoft
- Mansfield
- Perth
- Peterborough
- Poole
- Skegness
- Southport
- Spalding
- St Neots
- Tonbridge
- Wisbech
- Worthing
- Yeovil
The retailer's uncertain future comes as rival Debenhams - which was narrowly saved from closure in Nottingham last year - pushes ahead with shutting 19 stores this month, as part of the chain's restructuring process after entering administration last year.
Mothercare UK is another high street retailer that has faced difficulty in trading, shutting all of its 79 remaining stores on January 12 after the firm's UK business went bust.
