Poole shop to shut again only five years after it was revived following retail chain’s administration

The department store chain Beales is to close its last remaining shop, in Poole, for the second time as it blamed rising costs linked to Rachel Reeves’s budget for a failed rescue attempt.

The 144-year-old retail institution, which first opened its doors in Bournemouth in 1881, collapsed into administration in January 2020, leading to the closure of all its 22 stores. The store in Poole, on the south coast of England, reopened under new ownership later that year, followed by two other outlets – in Peterborough and Southport – which later closed in 2023 and last September respectively.