Texstyle sale a done deal

TEXSTYLE World, the home fashion chain, has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by retail restructuring specialists Hilco UK, writes Darran Gardner.

The retail operation consists of 47 stores in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the northwest of England. The deal sees the departure of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland, who injected (pounds) 1.5m of working capital into the struggling chain this summer.

After recording a (pounds) 8m loss on sales of (pounds) 70m in the year to April 2002,Texstyle World is now expected to return to profitability in 2003.

The acquisition, organised through a new Hilco UK subsidiary dubbed Finlaw 315, has also resulted in the departure of non- executive chairman Jim Bellingham and chief executive Ken Lemond. Hilco UK's chief operating officer, Paul McGowan, will head up the 670-strong business. The Scottish chain began life as Terley's, set up in 1962 by Eric Reid.

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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