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Major craft shop with 7 Scottish stores on the brink of being sold

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Major craft shop with 7 Scottish stores on the brink of being sold

A MAJOR craft shop retailer with 85 shops across the UK is on the brink of being sold.

Hobbycraft, one of the leading arts and crafts chains in the country, could be sold to a specialist investor.

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Hobbycraft could be bought over by a specialist investorCredit: Alamy

Modella Capital, which has a history of backing other crafts chains like Paperchase and Tie Rack, could be set to acquire the firm.

According to Sky News, it is currently in advanced negotiations to take it on from Bridgepoint, a private equity firm.

It is understood that the deal could be finalised over the next few days.

However, details of the sale, including how much Modella Capital is planning to pay for the company, remain unclear.

Hobbycraft first opened almost 30 years ago in 1995 and has seven stores across Scotland.

These are:

  • Aberdeen – in East Terrace, Union Square
  • Dundee – in Kingsway West Retail Park
  • Edinburgh – in Fort Kinnaird Shopping Park
  • Glasgow – in Glasgow Fort Shopping Park
  • Inverness – in Inshes Retail Park
  • Livingston – in Almondvale Retail Park
  • Paisley – in Pheonix Retail Park

The shop is popular with parents and crafty DIYers because it has everything they need for art, knitting and crochet.

It’s become a go-to stop for people planning parties and weddings because of its incredible supplies.

It also has plenty of options for haberdashery, papercraft, baking and jewellery making.

Ted Baker’s Last Hurrah: Shoppers Go Wild in Closing Down Sale

Even if the chain is bought over by Modella Capital, shops are still at risk of closing and staff could lose their jobs.

This is because it is normal for retailers to assess the value of their current ownership.

Hobbycraft has been owned by Bridgepoint since 2010.

The firm specialises in private equity and private debt and is one of the world’s leading private asset growth investors.

While Modella Capital is linked to the turnaround firm Rcapital, a former owner of Little Chef.

And its portfolio includes No Ordinary Designer Label, Ted Baker‘s UK licensing partner – which went into administration earlier back in March.

The news comes as Hobbycraft revealed plans to open a host n new stores back in September last year.

Read more on the Scottish Sun

Bosses announced the news after a more robust demand for arts and crafts boosted sales.

It led to a total of seven stores being opened across the UK at the end of 2023.

What else is happening on the high street?

Ted Baker is closing all remaining UK stores forever this evening.

The troubled retailer fell into administration earlier this year after a deal went sour between its American owners, Authentic Brands, and a Dutch operating partner meant to run the store operations.

Administrators at Teneo have been trying to find a rescue buyer for the business, but it is understood that House of Fraser, owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group pulled out of early talks.

When Ted Baker fell into administration in March it employed 975 people and had 46 shops in the UK and Europe.

Administrators have already closed 15 stores across the UK with the loss of 245 jobs.

But it had been hoped that the remaining stores would stay open.

The remaining closures are expected to affect around 513 employees across the UK and in the company’s head office and 78 in Ireland.

The Sun exclusively revealed in July that the brand was at risk of disappearing from the high street forever within weeks.

On Monday, tile supplier CTD Tiles struck a rescue deal with rival brand Topps Tiles after collapsing into administration.

The Newcastle-based brand will shut a total of 56 sites and cut 268 jobs, administrators have said.

In July, flooring retailer Tapi struck a multimillion-pound rescue deal to save the Carpetright brand and dozens of stores.

Tapi purchased 54 of the collapsed chain’s stores and two warehouses in a pre-pack administration deal that saved 300 jobs.

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