CEO Anthony Thunstr\u00f6m declined to comment on reports that the owner of British brands such as Phase Eight and Hobbs is sealing a rescue deal with Joules, but evinced interest in being part of the retail consolidation taking place in the UK.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately we are unable to comment on any potential speculation on M&A,” Thunstr\u00f6m told journalists on Joules.<\/p>\n
“Having said that, our view is that there are a number of UK-based brands that I think if you look in the next couple of months, particularly after the end of December, will be available for sale or will be in financial difficulty.”<\/p>\n
Joules became the latest retail collapse in Britain after its finances, profitability and cash generation came under pressure amid a cost-of-living crisis that has pinched consumer spending.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, online furniture seller Made.com (MADE.L) collapsed into administration. Retailer Next Plc (NXT.L) ended up buying the Made.com brand.<\/p>\n
Thunstr\u00f6m said if the cost-of-living crisis carries on, “you’re going to find that there will be a lot of attractive brands available. The reality is they (TFG London business) do see opportunity in the UK and they do want to grow.”<\/p>\n
TFG, which owns Foschini and Markham clothing brands in South Africa, would look at brands that play in all income levels, Thunstr\u00f6m said.<\/p>\n
Giving an insight into Black Friday weekend trading, he said, “it was good,” and saw strong demand across its brands as consumers are increasingly saving up, even for expensive items.<\/p>\n
FirstRand’s (FSRJ.J) First National Bank said on Monday its customers made purchases worth over 3 billion rand ($177.15 million), the highest Black Friday spending reported by the bank in the past four years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African fashion and homeware retailer TFG (TFGJ.J) is open to buying retail companies coming up for sale in Britain, its chief executive said on Wednesday, at a time when clothing retailer Joules Group (JOUL.L) has gone into administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13112,"featured_media":22925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[7,37,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-22928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fashion","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-fashion","11":"tag-lifestyle"},"yoast_head":"\n