Online fashion store to keep trading despite going under
MISSGUIDED ADMINISTRATORS REVEAL ‘HIGH LEVEL OF INTEREST FROM BUYERS’
BRITISH women’s online fashion brand Missguided has fallen into administration, a form of protection from creditors, with Teneo Financial Advisory appointed as joint administrators.
Teneo said Missguided will continue to trade while a buyer is sought.
“As we continue to see, the retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging,” said Teneo’s Gavin Maher.
“The joint administrators will now seek to conclude a sale of the business and assets, for which there continues to be a high level of interest from a number of buyers.”
Missguided, which has about 330 staff, was rescued last autumn by the finance firm Alteri Investors.
According to reports, the retailer has suffered from supply chain problems, rising freight costs and increasing competition from rivals like Boohoo and Chinese firm Shein.
Teneo are advising Alteri on strategic options for the business.
Any buyer is likely to try and do a deal via what is known as a pre-pack administration, which allows an insolvent firm to sell its assets to a bidder.
Last week, suppliers turned up at Missguided’s Manchester headquarters demanding overdue payments, and the retailer called for the police.
A supplier can apply to a court to close a company if it is unable to pay its debts. The idea is the firm’s assets are sold and those who are owed money will be paid.
Reports said that three suppliers for Missguided warned they are at risk of going under due to outstanding payments.
A Missguided spokesperson said the company was working urgently to address the action taken by creditors. “A process to identify a buyer with the required resources and platform for the business commenced in April and we expect to provide an update on the progress of that process in the near future,” they said.
Missguided was founded by Nitin Passi in 2009 and soon grew to become one of the UK’s biggest online fast-fashion players. The company expanded into Europe, the US and Australia, and now ships to more than 180 countries.
However, in the last few years the business has struggled to make a profit and in December, Alteri announced redundancies as part of a turnaround plan. Passi stepped down as chief executive in April.
The firm began as a purely online retailer before adding several brick-andmortar stores, including a flagship store in east London’s Westfield shopping centre in 2016. It has since shut all its physical shops in the UK.