Vintage brand Cath Kidston snapped up by Next in £8.5m deal

Next has bought the Cath Kidston brand for £8.5million but not its four stores – putting jobs at risk. 

The High Street chain snapped up the vintage retailer’s brand name, domain names and intellectual property yesterday. 

But some of Cath Kidston’s 125 staff will lose their jobs and the brand – which has run campaigns with model Poppy Delevingne – will shut stores after selling remaining stock. 

Administrators said the shops in London, Ashford in Kent, York and the Cheshire Oaks designer outlet at Ellesmere Port would remain open ‘in the short term’. 

The first Cath Kidston shop opened in west London in 1993, but it has operated mainly online after falling into administration in 2020 when almost 1,000 jobs and 60 stores were culled. 

Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and partner for PwC, said the retailer has struggled due to Covid and cost of living pressures. 

‘But he said Next would ensure Cath Kidston ‘continues to flower’.