JD Sports-owned Go Outdoors on brink of administration, with 2,400 jobs on the line
Go Outdoors is said to be teetering on the brink of collapse, after the JD Sports-owned retailer was reported to be calling in administrators.
JD Sports has lined up Deloitte as administrator to the company, which employs about 2,400 people across 67 stores, according to reports.
Go Outdoors, which sells bikes, tents and waterproof clothes, has suffered a sharp fall in sales after the coronavirus pandemic struck.
But it was struggling financially before then, booking a £291.1m loss in the six months to 3 August last year.
Like all retailers which are classed as non-essential by the government, Go Outdoors was forced to close in March.
Last week, shops eventually reopened, but with limits on the number of people allowed in-store at once so as to comply with two-metre social distancing rules.
JD Sports bought Go Outdoors in 2016 for £112m, but was forced to file legal notice of its intention to appoint administrators on Friday, according to Sky News.
Pentland Group-owned JD Sports is expected to restructure Go Outdoors using an insolvency process, with hopes to retain control of the chain.
It is the latest retailer to fall into trouble in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown, after Cath Kidston, Debenhams and Laura Ashley also all called in administrators in recent months.
Tens of thousands of jobs have already been lost over the last few months as a result of the pandemic, with some of Britain’s biggest companies including British Airways, Rolls-Royce, and British Gas owner Centrica slashing their workforce.