Luxury watchmaker Bremont closes St Collins Lane boutique

The local arm of high end British watchmaker has collapsed — with some customers losing lay-by payments on watches they’ll never collect.

The local arm of high end British watchmaker Bremont has collapsed, closing its boutique in Melbourne’s St Collins Lane arcade in a fresh blow for the luxury shopping destination.

The collapse of Bremont could result in a fire sale of more than $1.2m in stock now held by administrator BRI Ferrier if it cannot strike a rescue sale with the UK head company.

The downfall of the luxury retailer is also set to hand National Australia Bank a loss of up to $2.9m, while a BRI Ferrier report shows two Bremont customers are likely to lose lay-by payments made on watches which they cannot collect.

Bremont watches, worn by celebrities including Bear Grylls and Ewan McGregor, can cost up to $70,000.

Bremont’s Codebreaker watch.

BRI Ferrier is also chasing down three watches loaned to dealers in New South Wales and Western Australia which are yet to be returned.

“I have contacted the dealers with respect to returning the watches,” BRI Ferrier’s David Coyne says in a creditors report released this week.

“The matter is ongoing”.

The report notes that three items of stock were held for lay-by customers at the time the Australian operations called in administrators in late March.

One customer stumped up $10,000 to close out the purchase and collect their watch, the report says.

“The other two customers declined to pay the outstanding balances and may be entitled to submit claims against the company with respect to their lay-by payments,” the report says.

One of those customers has submitted a claim for $1000 while the report does not disclose what the other customer is owed.

BRI Ferrier estimates the Australian Bremont business collapsed with stock worth $1.24m.

St. Collins Lane shopping arcade. Picture: Paul Jeffers.

BRI Ferrier is in talks with Bremont in the UK over a sale of the Australian arm’s assets and stock.

If the sale falls through, stock will be sold off in a liquidation auction which BRI Ferrier expects to raise $635,000.

NAB, the only secured creditor, is owed $3.32m while unsecured trade creditors are owed $188,000.

NAB can except to get back between 12.8c and 27.6c on the dollar if the business is liquidated, the BRI Ferrier report says.

Bremont opened its first and only boutique in Melbourne’s St Collins Lane in late 2018.

St Collins Lane, a luxury shopping destination which stretches between Collins and Little Collins streets, has failed to gain traction with shoppers since opening in 2016.

UK department store Debenhams pulled out of the basement level in 2019 while shops on the upper level remain empty.

JP Morgan Asset Management sold the 9000sq m mall in October last year in a deal understood to be worth $125m, well down on the $2.47m it paid for the prime commercial real estate in 2016.