Jeff & Co signs deal with Matalan

JEFF Banks, the former presenter of TV's Clothes Show, is to sign a deal to sell his Jeff & Co range of clothes at discount retailer Matalan.

The designer parted company acrimoniously with Sainsbury a year ago when the supermarket giant decided to stop selling Jeff & Co.

After famously negotiating a pay-off of one box of Belgian chocolates a week from Sainsbury and a one-off payment of £1 million, Banks has been the subject of much speculation about where his Jeff & Co range would re-emerge.

He was the founder of the Warehouse fashion chain and has designed collections at Debenhams and Argos. He has also done some designs for Matalan.

Last week, Matalan reported improved trading with sales store for store up about 5% for the nine weeks to October 30 against a near 4% decline for the same period last year.