Blacks runs more than 200 Millets stores across the country

Failing outdoor retailers Black Leisure will go into administration, its board announced today.

The company, which operates the Millets and Blacks stores on Britain’s High Streets, said shareholders would receive nothing for their holdings, the sale of which has been suspended.

Blacks Leisure employs 3,500 people in 208 Millets stores and 98 Blacks shops, and at its Northampton headquarters.

The company invited offers for a takeover in December, and Sports Direct, which already has a 28.5 per cent holding in Blacks, was an early contender but the company, controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, withdrew from the process.

His firm is now one of the front-runners to pick up the assets of Blacks Leisure through a controversial pre-pack administration deal, with Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones another possible buyer for the company’s shops and brands, which include Peter Storm and Eurohike.

Others in the running to take over Blacks include JD Sports. GO Outdoors, Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Mountain Warehouse, which had all expressed interest in parts of Blacks Leisure, are thought to have dropped out of the running.

A statement from Blacks said: “The board has now determined that any sale of the trade, assets and brands will be effected through an administration process.

“Therefore it is expected that the process to commence the appointment of administrators of the company and certain of its subsidiaries will begin shortly although the actual appointments are only likely to take effect just before the completion of any such sale.

“The operating subsidiaries of the group will therefore continue to trade through all outlets outside of an administration pending any sale. It is proposed that Brian Green, Richard Fleming and David Costley-Wood, partners of KPMG, will be appointed as the administrators.”

Blacks said it expected to be in a position to announce details of the sale within the next few days.

There are no indications of what job losses are likely, though it is thought any new owner will look at cutting back Blacks’ headquarters and warehousing operation in Northampton.

The company was founded in Greenock on the Firth of Clyde in 1861 by Thomas Black, originally making sails for boats, but soon expanding into making tents.

It produced hospital tents, bell tents and ambulance covers for the armed forces during the First World War, and started also making sleeping tents for soldiers during the Second World War.

With the boom in leisure camping in the 1950s, it acquired City Camp and Sports, a ski equipment company Jackson and Warr and in the 1970s merged with the Millets chain.

The Blacks of Greenock brand is now separately owned by the AMG Group, whose products include Vango, Lichfield, Trangia, Teva, Rossignol and Wayfarer.