Still no sign of Threshers online business

A Threshers online business under new owners SEP Properties has yet to materialise, a year after SEP declared a six-week target for setting it up.

SEP bought the Threshers brand, along with Bottoms Up, The Local and Victoria Wine from First Quench administrator KPMG in January 2010.

It also bought 23 stores, which it intended to trade under the Bottoms Up name, but it remains unclear how far the company has got in developing the stores.

Recently-filed documents at Companies House state that the principal activity of SEP remains “property rental” and make only a brief reference to the former First Quench brands.

However a deal has been made to license the Threshers name to global travel location food and drink retailer Select Service Partners, to allow it to continue to use the name on a number of stores in railway stations across the UK.

Select Service Partners has no plans to expand the Threshers chain it has operated since the First Quench collapse.

“Threshers is a recognisable brand for consumers shopping in a hurry in a fast-moving location like a railway station, which is why it is a good move for us to keep it”, said Select Service Partners’ head of marketing development Heather Cooper.

Lucy Shaw, 14.02.2011