Poor trading leaves Jack Wills facing ‘cash crunch’
Fashion retailer Jack Wills is reportedly facing a “cash crunch” after a period of poor trading this spring.
According to The Times, Jack Wills is rapidly going through the £28m of cash injections arranged by its equity firm owner BlueGem, with sources saying trading has “fell off a cliff”.
BlueGem, which acquired Jack Wills back in 2016 led by owner Marco Capello, has already injected £16m into the business previously with sources adding that the company will need another cash injection or a restructuring before the end of the summer.
A source told The Times: “Trading fell off a cliff two months ago. There will be a crunch time soon when it comes to buying stock for Christmas and it will all depend on what Marco decides to do.”
The news comes after Jack Wills revealed in March it had suffered an EBITDA loss of £7.5m for the full year to 28 January 2018 compared with £6.3m profit in the previous year. The company’s turnover also dropped by 1.1% for the year to £129.3m down from 2017’s figure of £130.8m.
