The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1952–2018
Jane Norman dressed British teens for 60 years — then Baugur's £117M bet failed
Jane Norman was founded in 1952 and grew to 116 stores. Baugur bought it for £117M in 2005, it entered administration twice, and the brand was defunct by 2018.
Jane Norman · Graphite Capital · Baugur Group · Edinburgh Woollen Mill · 2011-06-27
What happened
Jane Norman was founded in 1952 by Norman Freed, a descendant of the Compton family of Ellesmere Port. The brand became a fixture of British high streets, selling womenswear, bags, and accessories to young women. By the mid-2000s, it had grown to 116 stores and was one of the most recognisable names in British teen fashion.
In January 2003, Graphite Capital bought Jane Norman for £70 million. Just two years later, in July 2005, the brand was sold again — this time to Icelandic investment group Baugur for £117.3 million, a 68% markup. Baugur was the same Icelandic group that owned Mosaic Fashions (Oasis, Coast, Karen Millen, Warehouse). The Icelandic banking crisis of 2008 brought Baugur down, and Jane Norman was caught in the collapse.
Jane Norman entered administration in June 2011. The brand and 33 stores were sold to Edinburgh Woollen Mill in a pre-pack deal. It entered administration again in June 2014. In May 2018, Edinburgh Woollen Mill announced the brand would close. Jane Norman, which had dressed British teenagers for 66 years, was defunct. The trademarks remain owned by Edinburgh Woollen Mill, but the stores, the jobs, and the brand itself are gone.
Why it happened
- Baugur paid £117M for Jane Norman at the peak of the Icelandic banking bubble — when the bubble burst in 2008, the brand was owned by a collapsing group with no cash to support it.
- Jane Norman was a teen fashion brand in a market moving online — its 116-store estate became a liability as footfall declined, and store costs consumed whatever margin remained.
- Two administrations in three years showed Jane Norman could not survive on its own — Edinburgh Woollen Mill kept it alive four years but never found a way to profit.
The lesson
When your buyer's money comes from a banking bubble, your brand's future is only as solid as the bank's. Baugur paid £117M for Jane Norman with Icelandic credit — when it ran out, so did the brand.
Aftermath
Jane Norman is defunct. The trademarks are owned by Edinburgh Woollen Mill, but no stores trade under the name, no website sells Jane Norman clothing, and the brand that dressed British teenagers for 66 years exists only as an intellectual property holding. The 116 stores that Jane Norman operated at its peak are all closed, and the 2,000+ jobs they supported are gone. The brand joined Oasis, Coast, Karen Millen, and Warehouse as another UK high street name killed by the Icelandic banking collapse.
Sources
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