Apparel Brands Group joins line up of bidders for Russell & Bromley

The fashion group owns Hype, Bench and Nicce and joins the likes of Next and the newly formed group Auralis, which owns Weird Fish, in bidding for the distressed retailer.

Russell & Bromley put itself up for sale in autumn 2025 and appointed Interpath as its adviser back in October to weigh up options and support funding of a five-year turnaround plan.

The shoe retailer saw revenues fall from £68m in 2022 to £63m in 2023, while pre-tax losses grew from £4m to £7.9m, with no further update for 2024.

The Sunday Times reported that Apparel Brands Group is circling a bid, and has already made numerous acquisitions recently. It doesn’t operate stores, but sells products to retailers and wholesalers. Its recent results show sales of £47m in the year to June 28, up from £36.2m in 2024.

Some of the current owners, the Bromley family, have reportedly been pushing for a sale to Auralis as it aims to keep most of the 37 stores open, according to The Times.

There are concerns that stores could shut if Next acquires the retailer, as it has recently partnered with liquidation specialist Retail Realisation.