{"id":202750,"date":"2022-04-06T04:00:53","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T03:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/?p=202750"},"modified":"2022-04-17T16:35:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-17T15:35:29","slug":"in-history-a-timeline-of-ted-baker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/in-history-a-timeline-of-ted-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"In History: a timeline of Ted Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"
Following a third takeover bid from private equity firm Sycamore and an unnamed third party, Ted Baker<\/a><\/span> has launched a formal sale process as it<\/strong>\u00a0faces yet another shift in the business after a difficult few years.<\/strong><\/p>\n The formal sale process, which the UK Takeover Panel has agreed to, allows talks between the board and interested bidders to take place on a confidential basis without the restrictions of the Panel\u2019s typical 28-day timetable. The news comes a week after Ted Baker rejected two takeover approaches by New York-based Sycamore<\/a><\/span>, the latter of which valued the business at \u00a3254 million.<\/p>\n Founded in 1988 by Ray Kelvin with his first store in Glasgow, Ted Baker has since grown to 560 stores and concessions worldwide. The British fashion retailer is currently in the midst of a three-year transformation programme under Rachel Osborne \u2013\u00a0who joined the business from Debenhams at the end of 2019 and was promoted to CEO in March 2020 \u2013 and has seen a recovery from pandemic lows.<\/p>\n In the 12-week period from 7 November 2021 to 29 January 2022, the company posted group sales growth of 35% in its fourth quarter compared to the same period in fiscal year 2021.<\/strong><\/p>\n The recent years have been tumultuous for Ted Baker, which was hit by a string of profit warnings and accounting mishaps after former CEO Ray Kelvin left the business in 2019 amid misconduct allegations. Kelvin has consistently denied those allegations and still owns 11.48% of the company,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Timeline: a brief history of Ted Baker's milestones<\/strong><\/p>\n 1988<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker was founded by Ray Kelvin, who named it after his alter ego. Specialising in men's shirts, Ted Baker opens its first store in Glasgow, followed by Manchester, Sheffield, Cambridge and Nottingham Exchange Arcade.<\/p>\n 1990<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker's first London store opens in Covent Garden and Kelvin acquired the company outright from\u00a0part-owners Goldberg and Sons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1993<\/strong> \u2013 The British retailer opened more stores in Soho, London, Leeds Victoria Quarter and Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham.<\/p>\n 1994<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker launched the wholesale business in the UK with a new store opening in Button Street, Liverpool.<\/p>\n 1995<\/strong> \u2013 The Ted Baker Woman and Ted Baker Lite lines were launched as the retailer expanded its product offerings.<\/p>\n 1996<\/strong> \u2013 Wholesale trading launches in the USA in 1996. Ted Baker opens a womenswear store in Nottingham and extended its Covent Garden and Leeds stores.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1997<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker became a public company, Ted Baker PLC, trading as \"'No Ordinary Designer Label Limited\".<\/p>\n 1998<\/strong> \u2013 The company launches its website and releases a Skinwear and Underwear line.<\/p>\n 2000<\/strong> - The company launches its Ted Baker Footwear collection and moves its HQ to The Ugly Brown Building in North London. Ted Baker also opens its largest store to date in Birmingham. New stores in Richmond, Canary Wharf and King\u2019s Road, London also make their debut.<\/p>\n 2004<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker enters the Australia and New Zealand markets, with new stores opening in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Regent St, London, Stansted Airport and Guildford.<\/p>\n 2007<\/strong> \u2013 The retailer releases a jewellery line and two mobile phones, The Button and The Needle. New store openings include Dublin, Melbourne, Miami, Gatwick\u2019s North Terminal, and a womenswear boutique in Covent Garden.<\/p>\n 2010<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker opened its first standalone Grooming Room. The business also launches a new US website and the world\u2019s first Twitter-operated styling studio, \"Take on Ted\".<\/p>\n 2014<\/strong> \u2013 The business expands its product range with a luggage, home fragrance and audio collection, with new store openings in Birmingham, Heathrow T2 and Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n 2018<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker launches its first advertising campaign to celebrate its 30th anniversary<\/a><\/span>. By this time, the business has 490 stores and concessions worldwide.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n March 2019<\/strong> \u2013 Ray Kelvin resigns following allegations of staff harassment, which he has consistently denied. His right-hand man Lindsay Page is appointed CEO.<\/p>\n June 2019<\/strong> \u2013 The company issues a profits warning amid \"extremely challenging\" trading conditions.<\/p>\n August 2019<\/strong> \u2013 Ted Baker expands its kidswear range in partnership with Next.<\/p>\n October 2019<\/strong> \u2013 The business falls into the red announcing losses of \u00a323m in the six months to August 2019.<\/p>\n November 2019<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Rachel Osborne joins the business as CFO having previously been with high street giant Debenhams. A month later it is announced the company's accounts had been overstated by up to \u00a325m.<\/p>\n December 2019<\/strong> \u2013 Kelvin's replacement as CEO, Lindsay Page, resigns<\/p>\n January 2020<\/strong> - The company announces an accounting error it had highlighted a year earlier, which meant there would be a \u00a358 million deficit on its balance sheet. Preliminary investigations demonstrated the business to had overestimated the value of stock held in January 2019 by between \u00a320m and \u00a325m.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n