Ted Baker is planning temporary stores in commuter towns and cities such as Watford and Reading after sales dived during the pandemic and plunged the company more than £100m into the red. The company said it planned at least three temporary stores in “satellite” locations around big cities this year, in the UK and US, as sales in big urban centres such as London continued to suffer from the trend towards working from home as well as limits on tourism. Rachel Osborne, the chief executive of Ted Baker, said sales of suits and dresses had picked up in recent weeks as UK lockdown restrictions eased, but the business was “trying to be agile” in the face of various restrictions to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus around the world. She said the temporary stores would be closed if shopping habits reverted to pre-pandemic patterns or kept on if working from home and shopping nearby continued. Osborne said Ted Baker was creating outfits that could be “dressed up or dressed down” to suit staying at home during lockdown or going out to events. It is also negotiating rent deals linked to sales amid the uncertainty over further of lockdowns. The changes come as the retailer reported sales of £352m in the 53 weeks to the end of January, down 44% compared with its pre-pandemic performance. Pretax losses were £108m. Ted Baker went into the pandemic highly dependent on physical stores, including its own shops and concessions in department stores. Lockdowns around the world severely hit those revenues, and government furlough support worth £8.5m was not enough to make up the difference. The retailer added that the slump continued beyond the end of January, amid further lockdowns in the UK and Europe. Sales fell 20% in the 12 weeks to 24 April. It was encouraged by the performance of UK stores since they were allowed to reopen on 12 April but revenues were still below 2019 levels. Ted Baker had been struggling before the pandemic, and the company in June 2020 launched a fundraising and turnaround plan, including 500 job losses. The temporary shutdown of shops added to troubles including a big accounting error and the temporary departure of its founder, Ray Kelvin, after controversy over “forced hugs” for employees. Kelvin left the company in March 2019 and denied all allegations of misconduct. However, he kept a large stake in Ted Baker and has had a say in running the business since September 2020, despite handing majority control to Toscafund, a hedge fund, in the June 2020 fundraising. Osborne said: “The impact of Covid-19 is clear in our results and has amplified some of the legacy issues impacting the business.” She added that the company was “in a much stronger place than it was a year ago”. The turnaround plan included launching new products, prioritising investment in digital technology and cutting annual costs by £31m. An increase in online sales made up for some of the lost ground during the pandemic year. Online sales grew by 22% year on year to £145m.