The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1988–2024
Ted Baker was a £1B fashion brand in 2018 — by 2024 every store was closed
Ted Baker peaked at £1.1B in 2018. The founder's 'forced hugging' scandal, accounting errors, and COVID led to administration in 2024 and all stores closed.
Ted Baker · Authentic Brands Group · Ray Kelvin · 2024-03
What happened
Ted Baker was founded in Glasgow in 1988 by Ray Kelvin and named after an alter ego. What began as a single shirt store grew into a global fashion brand with 500 stores by 2018, selling men's and women's clothing, accessories, luggage, and fragrance. At its peak in March 2018, shares traded at 3,214p and the company was valued at over £1 billion. The brand was known for quirky detail, playful marketing, and a distinctly British identity.
The collapse began when allegations emerged in December 2018 that Kelvin had created a culture of 'forced hugging' at the company. Kelvin resigned in March 2019, triggering a cascade of crises: a profit warning, a £5 million write-off of unsold clothes, three more profit warnings, and the resignation of the CEO and chairman. Then in January 2020, an accounting error revealed a £58 million hole in the balance sheet.
Under Authentic Brands Group (acquired for £211 million in 2022) and European operator AARC, the brand attempted a turnaround. But in early 2024, AARC severed ties and Ted Baker could not pay rent. Administrators were appointed in March 2024, closing 15 stores immediately. By August 2024, every Ted Baker store in the UK and Ireland had closed, with 500 more jobs lost. The brand that had been worth over £1 billion six years earlier ceased to exist on the high street.
Why it happened
- The 'forced hugging' scandal removed Kelvin overnight and triggered the exit of the entire leadership team, leaving Ted Baker with no experienced management when it was most needed.
- The £58M accounting error in January 2020 destroyed whatever confidence remained — a brand that could misstate its inventory by that amount had deeper problems than a missing founder.
- ABG's acquisition treated Ted Baker as a licensing asset rather than a retail business — the operator model left the brand with a partner that could walk away, which AARC did in 2024.
- Ted Baker never solved the underlying problem — its quirky British identity could not compete with online-first brands, and the store network was sized for revenue it no longer generated.
The lesson
One scandal can destroy a decade of growth — but only if it reveals that the entire leadership was one person, the balance sheet was fiction, and the business model had already stopped working.
Aftermath
Ted Baker continues as a brand under Authentic Brands Group, which relaunched online in November 2024 through United Legwear & Apparel. The website is active. But every physical store is gone — 192 UK, 98 European, and 111 US/Canada locations all closed within six months. The company that employed thousands now operates as a licensed brand. In Canada it filed for creditor protection; in the US, Chapter 15 bankruptcy. No physical retail remains anywhere.
Sources
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