Jobs on the line as Southport Shoe retailer Brantano goes into administration

Shoe retailer Brantano has suffered from rise in costs since post-EU referendum fall in sterling.

Jobs are at risk at a Southport shoe store after the chain entered administration.

The Brantano store at Ocean Plaza, Southport is now at risk of closure if the business can be rescued.

The company has suffered from a rise in costs since the post-referendum fall in sterling amid a generally lacklustre UK footwear market.

Based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, the chain has 73 stores and 64 concessions across the UK and employs 1,086 staff. Founded in Belgium in 1953 it expanded into the UK by buying 47 Shoe City shops in 1998.

For the last few weeks the company’s private equity owner, Alteri, had been attempting to sell Brantano and another footwear chain, Jones Bootmaker, which it bought along with its sister retailer for about £12m in February 2015. The latter, which has 100 shops and about 800 employees, is also at risk of administration but is talking to potential buyers thought to include private equity firm Endless and footwear groups Kurt Geiger and Pavers.