Retail restructuring specialist GA Europe is working with Bonmarché’s new owner Sun European to manage the 165 stores marked for closure.

Private equity firm Sun acquired Bonmarché on January 23. All 390 shops continue to trade, but Sun intends to keep 225 of those open, with plans to close the remaining 165.

On January 18 Retail Week revealed Sun would team up with GA, although the details of the relationship were unclear.

Referring to the planned 165-store closure GA said: “The business continues to evaluate its options and negotiations with landlords are ongoing.

“We will now implement a stock clearance programme across the 165 stores to drive sales from this part of the business.”