Cumbrian retail tycoon Philip Day has snapped up collapsed women's fashion chain Bonmarche, in-Cumbria understands.

While an official announcement is yet to be made, Bonmarche will become part of the billionaire’s Carlisle-headquartered Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group (EWM) empire under its Peacocks brand.

Peacocks was revealed as the preferred bidder by Bonmarche’s administrators FRP Advisory in November after beating the eight other companies that had expressed an interest in taking on the retailer.

At the time a spokesman for Mr Day stressed that any deal would hinge on rate negotiations with Bonmarche landlords and the outcome of a due diligence exercise which they anticipated would run well into January.

in-Cumbria understands Peacocks has acquired the majority of Bonmarche’s assets and stock and around 200 of its 270 stores. Negotiations are continuing over the inclusion of the remaining stores, with EWM declining to comment until they had been concluded.

The future of Carlisle’s Bonmarche store remains unclear after ‘closing down’ signs appeared in its windows last week.

The English Street store, along with outlets in Workington and Barrow, were spared the axe when FRP Advisory announced a number of store closures by December 11.

And while EWM has stressed it hoped to retain as many Bonmarche stores and its remaining 2,500 or so members of staff as possible, it has warned that there may be some closures as it considers issues such as footfall and locations that already have a Peacocks outlet.

Kendal, Workington and Whitehaven all have Peacocks stores.

The deal presents Mr Day with the chance of salvaging something from his long-running involvement in Bonmarche.

He saw a £5.73m equity investment made via his separate Dubai-registered company Spectre Holdings Ltd, wiped out when the Bonmarche board decided to put the company into administration in October.

Spectre had also taken on the retailer’s debt and provided Bonmarche with a working capital facility while its bosses grappled with what proved to be a futile a cost saving strategy to keep afloat. This is now likely to be recovered by Mr Day under Peacock’s ownership.

Spectre acquired 52.4 per cent of the company in March, triggering a mandatory takeover bid.

However, Bonmarche’s board told shareholders to sit tight, claiming Spectre’s offer of 11.445p per share undervalued the company.

But they made a dramatic u-turn in July when they advised shareholders to accept the original offer which it now described as ‘fair and reasonable’ and ‘potentially more attractive in the short term’ – a move which saw remaining shareholders sell their stakes en masse.

Despite Spectre taking control and offering support to turnaround Bonmarche’s fortunes, the company acted on the warning of its auditors PwC – which had continually expressed concerns about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern at its current level of trading – and placed it into administration, to the frustration of Mr Day.

Mr Day has a long legacy of turning around struggling retailers, including Peacocks, which he bought out of administration in 2012.

Mr Day – who has an estate in Brampton – was named the eighth richest person in the North West with a fortune of £1.2 billion in The Sunday Times Rich List last year.

He is also, through EWM, a significant investor in Carlisle United.

The League 2 club’s co-owner John Nixon recently told a fans’ forum he hoped EWM ‘will take a share and a chunk of the club’ after admitting he and fellow owners had ‘run out of cash’ to keep the club running.