Peacocks is sold out of Administration to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill

The sale is good news for the company, saving 6,000 jobs, but restructuring of the business will still result in around 3,000 job losses. We understand that the Warminster Peacocks store is one of the "lucky ones" to be rescued by the sale.

Warminster will therefore have both an Edinburgh Woollen Mill and a Peacocks on the High Street, both owned by the same company.

KPMG, the administrator, has confirmed that Edinburgh Woollen Mill has acquired the Peacocks brand, 388 retail stores and concessions, as well as the headquarters and logistics functions in Wales.

The Peacock Group employs around 11,000 staff altogether and operates out of 611 Peacocks clothing stores went into administration earlier this year.

There are 224 Peacocks stores which were not included the sale, and as a result have ceased trading with immediate effect.

Chris Laverty, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG, said:"Today's deal ensures the continued trading of a well known name on the high street.

Peacocks suffered from a combination of too many retail stores and simply too much debt to remain viable.

"I am pleased to announce that with immediate effect 338 stores, 57 concessions, three distribution centres and the head office operations belonging to the Peacocks group will come into the EWM Group of companies, saving some 6,000 jobs, including 250 at the Cardiff headquarters.  We look forward to working with our new colleagues to rebuild the business in what is a very tough economic environment for High Street retailers in the UK," said Philip Day, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.

"We do hope that there will be scope to save more jobs and stores from those being forced to close now due to performance issues and overhead pressures. As you can imagine, there will be a considerable amount of work to undertake over the next few months to stabilise the situation, turn this business around, get the supply chain moving again and excite the customers with great products."

Barclays and Santander banks have agreed to help Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group with funding for the acquisitions.

"I'd like to thank both banks for their vital input, which has helped us find a suitable joint funding package for this major deal," said Mr Day. "This acquisition gives further depth to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill's range of trading profiles and asserts our position as one of the UK's leading High Street  fashion and clothing retailers," said Mr Day.