Jack Wills to permanently shut 17 shops

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has announced plans to permanently close 17 Jack Wills stores with immediate effect, bringing the total to 22 this week. Frasers said the latest tranche will bring the total number of closures at the brand, which was bought out of administration in August last year, to 31. A spokesperson for Frasers said: “The group has been working closely with landlords since acquiring Jack Wills to save as many stores – and livelihoods – as possible. “Now faced by unprecedented uncertainty in the retail environment, these closures are inevitable, unless landlords are willing to come forward quickly and finally have meaningful discussions.” Jack Wills was sold for £12.8m to Frasers, then known as Sports Direct International, via a pre-pack administration. In the months that followed, it closed around 13 stores. Another six stores were identified for closure in January, after rent negotiations with landlords collapsed. The latest 17 closures are: Belfast Bristol Cribbs Southampton Hereford Meadowhall Silverburn Plymouth Truro Chelmsford Watford Camberley O2 Ipswich Leeds Lakeside Kildare Bicester Village To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette