Vergo Retail

Vergo Retail Ltd

Former type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founded	2007
Founder	David Thompson
Defunct	2010
Headquarters	Liverpool, United Kingdom
Number of locations	20 at peak
Revenue	£15.824 million (2008)
Operating income	£(2.482) million (2008)
Profit	£(2.416) million (2008)
Owner	David Thompson
Number of employees	942
Divisions	Department Stores Homemaker Stores Vergo at Home Fashion, Home & More! The Jewellery Store
Website	http://www.vergoretail.co.uk

Vergo Retail Ltd was a department store business based in Liverpool, England, founded in 2007 and currently in administration. Vergo Retail ran 20 shops, consisting of nine department stores, including Lewis's of Liverpool, Robbs of Hexham, Joplings of Sunderland and Derrys of Plymouth and four others in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk; four Homemaker stores in Devon, four home and fashion stores in Essex and Suffolk; two home stores in Essex; and a jewellery store in Colchester.

Vergo Retail was formed in May 2007 in order to acquire Lewis's, Robbs and Joplings from Owen Owen Ltd which was in administration. The company was and is, owned by David Thompson, the owner of Owen Owen and a former director of Mothercare, Habitat and British Home Stores, and more recently director & shareholder of MK One which was sold in 2004 for £55m.

In 2009 Vergo Retail entered a further phase of growth, acquiring the department store operations of two co-operative societies. First, in February 2009, Plymouth and South West Co-operative Society (Plymco) agreed to sell its non-food business to Vergo. This consisted of Derrys Department Store in Plymouth, and four Homemaker stores in Devon and Cornwall. Vergo Retail took control of these stores on 15 March 2009. Secondly, on 16 June 2009, it was announced that Vergo Retail would take over the existing East of England Co-operative Society Department Stores based throughout Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, with the 350 current staff employed by the East of England Co-operative expected to keep their jobs during the transfer. Department stores in Norwich, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, Clacton-on-Sea and Colchester, along with six specialist home stores and one jewellery store, were transferred to Vergo Retail on 4 July 2009 with the East of England Co-operative Society retaining the freehold.