The spate of major British brands being put into administration by their relatively new owners doesn’t appear to be over with Ted Baker the latest.

On Tuesday it emerged that the British ops are to go into administration.  No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), which licenses the Ted Baker brand from Authentic Brands Group, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. And it looks like Teneo Financial Advisory will have the job. 

It’s not long since one of its licensees — Dutch company AARC — lost its contract to run part of the UK and Europe business after it failed to resolve its funding issues in the face of a very tough market.

Authentic confirmed the administration filing news to Fashionnetwork.com. John McNamara, Chief Strategy and Transition Officer, at Authentic Brands Group, told us: “Despite our tireless efforts, the damage done during a period under AARC in which NODL built up a significant level of arrears was too much to overcome.

“We wish that there could have been a better outcome for the Ted Baker employees and stakeholders. It is hopefully some consolation for customers that NODL will continue to trade online and in stores. 

“We remain focused on securing a new partner to uphold and grow the Ted Baker brand in the UK and Europe where it began.”

That said, it’s likely to mean some job losses and store closures, although it’s unclear the extent of these. 

Formerly-stock-exchange-listed Ted Baker had once been a high flyer in the UK fashion sector but saw its fortunes declining in recent years and was taken into private ownership around 18 month ago when Authentic Brands Group bought it for around £210 million. Authentic has been buying up major brand and also bought UK boots business Hunter around a year ago.

The company proceeded to license Ted Baker’s operations out to various partners around the world although, as mentioned, the link with AARC didn’t perform as expected.

And it seems the failure of AARC to deliver on its operating contract and the overall tough environment last year in particular were key. 

But despite NODL entering administration we’re told the Ted Baker brand will continue to trade and customer orders will still be fulfilled, while Authentic remains in advanced discussions with several potential operating partners for the Ted Baker brand.

Authentic isn’t the first owner this year to opt for an administration filing after a relatively recent acquisition. There have been multiple filings with the biggest headline-grabbers being Aurelius putting The Body Shop into administration and Frasers Group doing the same with Matches. Both of those filings came just a short time after the respective businesses were acquired.