Seraphine founder left 'heartbroken by collapse of royal favourite maternity fashion brand
Cecile Reinaud, who founded Seraphine in 2002, bemoaned that 20 years' of work were wiped out after the retailer collapsed into administration this week.
Some 95 jobs were lost when the label appointed administrators from Interpath Advisory, after its new owners failed to find a buyer to save its staff and London flagship shop.
The business was bought by private equity outfit Mayfair for £50million in 2023.
In May, Reinaud accused it of losing its way with a rebrand that ditched its 'regal purple' for what she described as a 'Scandinavian' look.
The brand gained global attention when the then Duchess of Cambridge wore its pieces throughout her three pregnancies, including in the first official pictures of Prince George in 2013.
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He suggests the city's empty shop problem could be minimised if the council took more of a role in deciding which businesses were based in which units."If all these businesses were owned by Bradford Council it wouldn't end up like this," he says."Because they're privately owned and the guys who own the businesses just want to fill them, they don't care what gets in them. If we had control of what goes in here and the council could sign it off, you stand a better chance."But he adds the City of Culture year has been a boost, and he hopes the city can build on the says: "Ever since the City of Culture signs have gone up, we're getting quite a lot of tourists coming in here and we're changing things into gifts for tourism promoting Bradford."Bradford Council has done an excellent job. What they're doing now is not for today as such. Rome wasn't built in a day. Bradford wasn't built in a day. But it's evolving."This year is a good standard now to build on." Jonny Noble, chief executive of Bradford BID, says the news that Bradford has a lot of empty shops is not exactly new for those who know the city."I've lived in Bradford all my life and it has been recognised for some time to be honest," he says."We've got a lot of not fit-for-purpose retail. In the 1980s and 1990s, obviously Bradford was much more vibrant, shall we say, than it might be classed as now, or the retail scene, generally, in the UK was."Independent retail expert Catherine Shuttleworth agrees."The landlords of Bradford have got to get real and rethink the space, invest in it, and the council have got to work with the landlords to make it somewhere attractive for people to come and open shops," she says."Fundamentally, for a modern retailer, you need easy access. 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Mr Noble says BID does its own research into vacancy rates, and that number is starting to drop."I don't really like the phrase shrinking the city centre, but it's making it fit for purpose and making sure the right offers are there," he says."We had far too much not fit-for-purpose space that was never going to be brought back into use [as] retail space and, with changing shopping habits, we need an experiential offer where people can touch and feel and smell and see."He says the city needs to shift away from mainstream retailers."Retail used to be everything. You'd look down every street around the country and see all the same signs. 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I think the reason for it is the provision of shopping outside of town," she says."Places like Leeds' White Rose Shopping Centre pull a lot of people in from Bradford."These are easy places to go to, easy places to get in and out of. Bradford's really hard to get in and out of. "Leeds has a fantastic retail offer and is super easy to access either by bus or train." Mr Cunningham says the answer is fewer shops, more restaurants and more culture."We need to make sure we're promoting things like food and drink and cultural experiences rather than retail," he says. "If we just follow the retail trends internationally then we're always going to end up with high vacancy rates."Mr Noble says that shift is already under way, with the opening of Darley Street Market and more cultural venues across the city, such as Loading Bay and Bradford Live."We've got a fantastic offer and the place has never looked as good as it currently does," he says."I am absolutely confident that vacancy rates will drop significantly over the next couple of years and get back to where we feel we should be." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
