Mothercare eyes store closures

Mothercare is understood to be exploring a Company Voluntary Arrangement, which could see it close a third of its 143 stores and slash rents.

Mark Newton-Jones, the former Shop Direct boss, was brought in to ramp up the retailer’s digital strategy. Although more than 40% of its trade now comes via its e-commerce operations, online sales fell by 6.9% over the Christmas period and store sales by 7.2%. Newton-Jones was abruptly dumped by Mothercare earlier this month and replaced by former Tesco executive and Kmart boss David Wood.

Alan Parker, Chairman, commented: “We have looked at the results over the last few years and frankly we have been disappointed. The share price, the performance of the company, and the results have not been what anybody wanted. Although we recognise that Mark has done a good job, we think we can do even better going forward.”