Former Baugur investments boss Jeff Blue mulls return to retail

Blue, who was at investment bank Merrill Lynch for seven years before joining the Icelandic investor and worked on the float of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct, told Retail Week that he registered the company in May to “hang on to the name”. He maintained: “It hasn’t been capitalised and there is nothing to report.”

However, he said the company could have a retail element as he “knows a few people in the sector”.

Baugur hired Blue – who was also central to Debenhams’ float in May 2006 – in June 2007, in a reshuffle in which Baugur founder Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson became executive chairman and Gunnar Sigurdsson became chief executive. Blue managed Baugur’s £9.8bn retail portfolio of 36 brands operating from 3,800 stores in 35 countries.

At the time of Blue’s appointment, Jóhannesson said Baugur had £600m to invest in retail ventures. By February this year, the group had fallen into administration.