Brantano falls into administration for second time in 14 months

Shoe retailer Brantano has collapsed into administration for the second time in 14 months.

Private equity firm Alteri Investors, which bought the long-time loss-making business and its sister brand Jones the Bootmaker for £12m in October 2015, has taken action after failing to secure a buyer. Jones is also said to be on the brink of following suit if attempts to secure a rescue bid fall short.

Alteri first put the retailer into administration in January 2016, says the BBC, before buying it back, although the total number of stores was reduced from 200 to close to 140.

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Brantano now has 73 outlets and 64 concessions employing a total of 1,086 staff, down from almost 1,400 when it was rescued in February 2016.

Tony Barrell, of lead administrator PwC, said it was "inevitable that there will be redundancies" among the remaining workforce.

He added the business would continue to trade as normal while a buyer is sought.

Brantano, which pitches itself as a budget retailer, has suffered a significant hit to its tight margins due to the slump in the pound following the vote for Brexit, which has increased import costs.

However, its problems are much longer-term and are in part a reflection of the increasing move into footwear by many mainstream clothing retailers, such as Next and H&M, and also of its concentration in out-of-town shopping centres.

Maureen Hinton, retail research director at research firm GlobalData, told The Guardian: "Brantano… had to be a destination to attract people and that was always going to count against it."