Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Beales, one of the oldest British department store chains, went out of business, making overall 1,020 employees redundant.
The company entered into administration on 20 January 2020, but the attempts to find a buyer were unsuccessful. Consequently, all of the company's 23 stores have been closed. The bankruptcy was not related to the COVID-19 pandemic, however the last 11 stores closed in mid-March 2020, two weeks earlier than previously planned, because of the health emergency.
The administrators said that they had no alternative option but to close the stores. The company also ensured the employees that Beales will provide all the necessary information to submit claims to the Redundancy Payments Service, together with details of who the workers may contact for any help and support they could need.
Beales was founded in 1881 and was operating across England and Scotland.
Eurofound (2020), Beales, Bankruptcy in United Kingdom, factsheet number 100744, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/100744.