Job fears as Adams hits trouble again

Jan 26 2010 by jez Davison, Evening Gazette

AROUND 20 Teesside jobs have been thrown into doubt after a national retailer fell into administration for the second time in just over a year.

Childrenswear retailer Adams, which has stores in Middlesbrough and Redcar, was rescued from collapse last January by JS Childrenswear but is now under the control of administrators MCR.

Adams, which supplies Boots with the Mini Mode own brand range, employs more than 1,100 staff in more than 100 UK stores and a further 19 concessions in the UK and Eire.

MCR said it was looking to sell the business as a going concern “sooner rather than later” but declined to reveal how much - if anything - was owed to creditors.

“The next couple of weeks will be decisive in terms of the outlook for the business,” a spokesperson for MCR said.

Nuneaton-based Adams is one of the largest independent childrenswear retailers in the UK and at its height had 271 own-brand stores and concessions throughout the UK trading under Adams Kids.

Last January, however, the company was forced to shut 111 stores - including outlets in Stockton and Hartlepool - as economic conditions worsened.

In February 2009, prospects for the remaining stores looked brighter after Northern Ireland businessman John Shannon, who originally bought Adams out of administration in 2007, stepped in with the JS Childrenswear deal.

Administrators said he recently sold the firm on to Habib Alvi Investments.

Founded in Birmingham in 1933 by Amy Adams, the company sells babywear, school uniforms and clothes for children aged from two to 10 years.