PKF Francis Clark acts on Herring Shoes disposal

The award winning corporate finance team at PKF Francis Clark have acted as lead advisers on the disposal of the branded retailer Herring Shoes to Pavers for an undisclosed sum.

Herring Shoes was started in 1966 by Richard Herring. Richard’s son, Adrian, joined the business in 1990 eventually buying some of the shops from his father in 2000 before turning his attention to online retailing and international sales and relocating to Kingsbridge, Devon. The brand is synonymous with quality – quality products, quality service and quality endorsements from a range of celebrity customers for their quintessentially English shoes.

Pavers, a family-run shoe retail business based in York, will continue to operate separately from Herring Shoes and Adrian will maintain a key role in the Herring business with Herring Managing Director, Jason Simmonds, also continuing in his role.

Mark Greaves, Nick Tippett and Chris Bishop of PKF Francis Clark provided corporate finance advice to the vendors, with legal advice being provided by Rob Ridd at Clarke Willmott.

Nick commented:

“We have been working with Adrian for a number of years, supporting him in developing his plans to ensure the long term success of the business and its brand. Having generated interest from a number of potential trade and private equity acquirers, the team here is very proud to have played a key part in pulling the deal together. We are sure that Herring Shoes will continue to go from strength to strength under Pavers’ ownership.”

Adrian Herring, chair of the Herring board, said:

“At Herring we are passionate about our shoes. We think we offer the finest range of high-quality English hand-made welted footwear anywhere online, or the high street. But at heart we are still that same family business dedicated to excellent customer service, and of course beautiful shoes. Shoes are not only our business, they are our passion – and being a part of Pavers means the Herring brand is secure with the same values and passion.”