News roundup--Jigsaw, The Hut, more

Fashion retailer Jigsaw is closing its sister brand Kew only a year after it was relaunched following the label posting a £6.8 million loss last year. The Telegraph reports that Kew, which originally launched in 2003, is likely to convert a third of its 22 stores into Jigsaw outlets while the remaining outlets are set to close. Accounts filed at Companies House for Robinson Webster Holdings, Jigsaw's parent company, show that although there was a group loss of £10 million for the year to October 1st 2011, turnover increased from £81 million to £84 million.

Sir Terry Leahy is on the shortlist to become the next chairman of online retailer The Hut, according to the Mail’s This is Money website. The shortlist for the groups’ new chairman is understood to have been drawn up and former Tesco chief Leahy is believed to be on the list to replace Angus Monro. A decision is expected to be announced in autumn this year.

According to the Guardian retail bankruptcies have risen by 10 percent over the past three months with Clinton Cards and Game among the victims of the cull. The retail insolvencies have been blamed as a result of the wet weather and dampened consumer confidence. PricewaterhouseCoopers said the retail sector saw 426 businesses go bankrupt in the second quarter, up from 386 a year ago, but the number of corporate insolvencies fall by 3 percent year-on-year to just under 4,000.

Luxury department Harrods, owned by Qatar Holding, has announced that in the year to 28th January 2012 sales were up 11 percent to £651.7 million and pretax profits increased 15 percent to £125.3 million. In the Telegraph report it says that the Qatari owners, who bought Harrods from businessman Mohamed Al Fayed for £1.5 billion in 2010, paid themselves £100 million dividend as a result of the retailers’ financial results.

The Mail’s This is Money column has reported that Select, the fashion outlet, has seen like-for-like sales rise by eight percent in the six months to 27th July 2012, while total sales increased by 16 percent. Select’s results have been attributed to disarray among rivals as well as delivering products straight from its own factories.

Online retailer Figleaves is launching an own brand luxury lingerie line called Boudoir in September, following the launch of the firms menswear collection last autumn. Items will cost between £16 and £70, reports the Daily Express.