After Matches, now Frasers Group puts kidswear chains into administration

Business spring cleaning continues at Frasers Group with the UK retail giant now placing kidswear brands Base Childrenswear, Kids Cavern and Flannels Junior into administration.

This comes just a week after the group appointed administrators for digital fashion retailer Matches.

Kroll joint administrators Michael Vincent Lennon and Benjamin John Wiles are handling the latest procedures.

Base Childrenswear was one of 14 businesses Frasers Group acquired from JD Sports in December 2022 in a deal worth up to £47.5 million. The upscale childrenswear brand was brought under the Flannels umbrella and began trading as Flannels Junior.

Administrators from Kroll have also been appointed to Dantra, which trades as Kids Cavern and Flannels Junior.

Base Childrenswear has four mall-based stores in Bluewater, Grand Central Birmingham, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford, all of which were rebranded as Flannels Junior last year. Meanwhile, Kids Cavern has two stores in Liverpool and Newcastle, and a third store in Manchester, also trading as Flannels Junior.

Closing down sales have begun in the seven stores, and it’s reported that around 50 staff members are at risk of redundancy.

Base Childrenswear Ltd’s most recent accounts at Companies House, for the year ending January 2022, show its directors revealing a “challenging” year due to economic uncertainty from the pandemic.

The business last reported turnover of £13.4 million, up from £11.8 million a year previously, while operating losses from were cut to £387,000 from £746,000.