£51m buy-out will axe 60 fabric stores

Rosebys' new management team said it had completed the buy-out of the retail chain from Rotherham-based parent company Homestyle Group.

It planned to press ahead with the previous management's plans to close 60 stores in the next two years, leaving Rosebys with about 350 outlets.

There would be minimal redundancies among the firm's 3,500 full and part-time staff, with all full-time workers being redeployed to other stores.

A spokesman for the new management team said the takeover would lead to consolidation in the short term.

But he added: "Our business plan has been put in place and that will include store expansion in the medium term."

Rosebys is Britain's biggest home furnishings retailer, with more than 400 stores and sales of almost £200 million last year. The Rosebys division has stores branded as both Rosebys and Fabric Warehouse.

Homestyle is selling the business to reduce debt after a prolonged period of poor trading at Rosebys and furniture retailer Harveys. Rosebys was founded in 1925 and is best known for bedding, curtains, bathroom textiles and accessories.

More than 15 per cent of its total sales are in off-the-roll fabrics through Fabric Warehouses.

It made profits of £8.8 million on turnover of £196.6 million in the last financial year.

The buy-out was backed by private equity firm Lloyds TSB Development Capital which will take a 73.5 per cent stake.

The ten-strong management team is led by managing director Tony Richards, financial director Mark Dyson and logistics director Tony Mannix.

Jim Martin, who is also chairman of discount retailer Ethel Austin and former chief executive of mail order specialist N Brown, has been brought in as non- executive chairman.

Mr Richards said: "Because we were part of the Homestyle Group, we were not in a position of being able to concentrate solely on doing what we do best.

"Now we can focus on doing just that."

Tuesday June 01, 2004