The Officers Club Advised by Muckle LLP
MUCKLE LLP played a key role in putting together the deal to save 1,000 jobs and 118 stores at The Officers Club.
The firm advised on the sale of the stores out of administration to the menswear retailer’s chief executive and founder David Charlton after the administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers was called in late on Tuesday December 23.
TimeC 1215 Limited, a company backed by Mr Charlton, has bought the 118 stores and The Officers Club, Petroleum, Retrofire and Blakes brands.
“”The sale to TimeC 1215 Limited represents a significantly better result for the creditors of the companies than any other alternative,”" said Ian Green joint administrator and partner at PWC.
People from Muckle LLP’s commercial, property, employment, litigation and intellectual property teams worked on the deal. The firm started discussions with Mr Charlton in the week before Christmas.
They advised on the offer for the company, which was in place by the end of that week and, after working through the previous night, the deal was closed at 7pm on Wednesday 23 December.
Commercial services group partner, Matt Collen said: “”It was very important to be able to move quickly on this deal, to safeguard jobs and to allow the company to continue trading throughout the whole vital Christmas period.
“”It demonstrates our ability to move quickly with an appreciation of the commercial realities. We can do this because we have the necessary specialisms in place to put together a complicated package in a short space of time. This is just one of a number of similar deals of similar structure we have advised on over the past few weeks across all sectors and all sizes of company.”"
Mr Charlton said: “”We are very pleased to be able to secure this deal and protect the employment of over 1,000 people in the stores and head office. Muckle LLP did a wonderful job in helping us to put this deal together. They showed great flexibility and professionalism and kept a cool head throughout a pretty fraught few days.”"
The Officers Club was started in the early 1990s in Sunderland. Headquartered in Cramlington, it grew to become one of the biggest retailers in the country.