The British baby goods retailer Mothercare has announced its intention to appoint administrators to the company's active trading subsidiary, Mothercare UK and Mothercare Business Services Limited, putting 2,500 jobs at risk. The retailer operates a global brand business generating over €579.6m (£500m) of revenues each year from over 1,000 stores internationally in over 40 territories. The announcement follows a loss of €42m (£36.3m) in the company's UK retail operations in the last financial year.
Mothercare stated that "the UK Retail operations of the Group, which today includes 79 stores, are not capable of returning to a level of structural profitability and returns that are sustainable for the Group as it currently stands and/or attractive enough for a third party partner to operate on an arm's length basis. Furthermore, the company is unable to continue to satisfy the ongoing cash needs of Mothercare UK."
