Oasis owner Aurora Fashions is in negotiations with its landlords to reduce rents and get out of onerous lease agreements.

Aurora Fashions chief finance officer Richard Glanville told the Sunday Express: “We are seeking rent reductions and, if these cannot be attained, then we will pull out of stores. Fashion retailing is increasingly going online and times are extremely tough for bricks-and-mortar operators.”

He added: “We are reviewing our entire store portfolio and are in daily discussions with landlords. We want to reduce our store portfolio in the UK by 25% over the coming years.

The group, which is in the process of demerging its brands, with Coast set to become a standalone alone business and Oasis and Warehouse coming together under new parent company Fresh Channel, has over 200 standalone UK stores.

Last week, it emerged that credit insurers had “scaled back” cover for the retailer’s supplier base as uncertainty surrounding the group’s demerger coincided with wider concerns about the challenging clothing market, which has been hit by the cold snap over the past few months.

Topics