Jessops: Camera retailer appoints administrators as it becomes latest high street victim of pandemic

The company employs 120 staff across 17 shops

The chain was acquired by Peter Jones’ company in 2013 (PA)

Jessops, the camera retailer, has filed for administration after its sales were badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing lockdowns.

The company, which was is owned by Dragons’ Den’s Peter Jones, currently employs 120 staff and operates 17 stores.

Mr Jones’s PJ Investment Group acquired the company in 2013.

The firm is the latest company to bring in advisers as the pandemic continues to batter the high street.

Jessops said it had appointed insolvency specialists FRP and was looking at how it can “carve out a new strategy” to allow the business to be competitive.

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A spokesperson for Jessops said: “No doubt, that will include further growing Jessops’ digital offering, as well as considering the opportunities to partner with other retailers to continue Jessops’ high street presence.

“We are working closely with key suppliers and partners to agree a way forward and PJ Investment Group have confirmed that they stand ready to provide additional funding if a suitable agreement can be reached on sustainably supporting Jessops in the next stage of its development.”

The announcement comes less than two years after a major restructuring at the chain, which cuts its number of stores from 46 in an attempt to keep the firm afloat.

Geoff Rowley, a partner at FRP, said the brand had “faced growing online competition” as well as “the challenges faced by all high street retailers” over the course of the pandemic.

Jessops is the latest in a series of firms to be hit by the economic damage coronavirus restrictions have wreaked on sales.

Earlier this month, chocolate retailer Thorntons announced plans to permanently close all its 61 stores, with 603 jobs impacted.

The 110-year-old chocolatier had been struggling with falling sales for a while before the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

John Lewis is also planning to close a string of department stores.

A spokesperson for PJ Investment Group said that it had restored profitability to Jessops in recent years.

They added: “However, the retail landscape has continued to evolve rapidly, and this process has been accelerated by the impact of the pandemic on the high street.”