Barclay Brothers to put Woolies online

THE BARCLAY BROTHERS have bagged what's left of the tattered Woolworths brand and plan to relaunch it online.

The cheapo high street chain went into administration in November with debts of £385 million. It closed more than 800 stores.

But now Woolworths and its clothing label Ladybird will get a new life online if the purchase by the Shop Direct Group, owned by the Barclays, is successful.

Along with Shop Direct - an online relaunch of the Littlewoods brand - the well-wadded brothers already own online retailers Great Universal and Marshall Ward. They also own the Telegraph and a Channel island called Brecqhou, whence they seem to make life for administrators on neighbouring Sark a bit of a pain.

Shop Direct's chief executive Mark Newton-Jones told the BBC he was confident about Woolworths' future.

"This is great news and we are confident that Woolworths, as an online brand, will once again prosper and quite rightly stay at the heart of British retailing," he said. Details of new product ranges will be released over the next few months, with the online operation up and running by the summer.

"Essentially we will sell children's clothing through the Ladybird name and also other products," said Newton-Jones.

Shop Direct last week announced it would cut more than 1,000 jobs because of the current economic crisis, even though it reported healthy sales growth. µ