Newbury s Debenhams store set to close for good after £55m Boohoo takeover
Fashion retailer will relaunch the department store as an online-only operation from next year
Dan Cooper
);
All 118 Debenhams stores in the UK – including the one in Parkway, Newbury – are set to close for good.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo announced today that it had bought the Debenhams brand and website in a £55m deal and it plans to relaunch the department store as an online-only operation from next year.
Executive chairman of Boohoo, Mahmud Kamani, said: This is a transformational deal for the group, which allows us to capture the fantastic opportunity as eCommerce continues to grow.
Published: 25 January 2021
► Funding issues due to Covid
► 1000mph rocket car project hoping to to continue
The Bloodhound landspeed project is up for sale again. After a successful test in South Africa in 2019, in which the car got up to speeds of 628mph, the current owner Ian Warhurst is now stepping away from the project. Warhurst saved the project from total cancellation in 2018, but the Covid-19 pandemic has understandably changed the Bloodhound project’s trajectory. A record-breaking 1000mph run is now penciled in for 2022 – funding allowing. It has been a privilege to lead this team of world-class engineers over the past two years. I was spellbound – along with a huge audience around the world – as we tested the car up to 600+ mph in South Africa,’ said Warhurst. ‘When I committed to take the car high speed testing in 2019, I allocated enough funding to achieve this goal on the basis that alternative funding would then allow us to
Boohoo has bought collapsed department store group Debenhams for £55m but will shut all remaining stores
Deal confirms Debenhams brand will disappear from high street after 242 years with up to 12,000 job losses
Boss Mahmud Kamani in battle with Amazon as he wants to dominate homeware and beauty as well as clothes
His son and PrettyLittleThing founder, Umar Kamani, says the family used to make weekly trips to Debenhams