Sale agreed for fashion retailer which has boutique in Kildare Village

A sale has been completed on the majority of the business and assets of the fashion retailer LK Bennett in the UK and Ireland to Byland UK Limited for an undisclosed sum. LK Bennett's Irish operations, which trade through the UK business, will form part of the sale. The womenswear retailer operates from two stores in the Republic of Ireland - in Kildare Village in Dundrum Town Centre. It also has six concessions in large department stores. The sale today includes the company’s headquarters, 21 stores, all of its concessions, and 325 employees, which will transfer across to the purchaser. The UK Company entered administration last month. The 15 stores that were not included in the sale will be closed, resulting in the redundancy of around 110 workers. One of these stores is located in Bridgewater Park in Banbridge in Co Down. The firm is owned by founder Linda Bennett, who had stepped back from the brand in 2008, but returned in 2017 as a consultant. The accounts showed a loss before tax of £47.9m for the year to 29 July 2017. The failure is the latest in a string of mid-market women's fashion labels to buckle under the pressure of dwindling high street sales. Last year, Irish designer Orla Kiely closed five retail stores as the fashion brand went into liquidation. Meanwhile, department store House of Fraser, which stocks the LK Bennett brand, went into administration last year before being bought out by Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley.