Textiles Direct enters administration
Homewares retailer Textiles Direct has gone into administration putting more than 300 jobs at risk.
The Oldham based retailer, which operates 52 stores across the UK, said last month that it intended to appoint administrators after seeing a 20% fall in sales over the past year.
Administrator Kevin Lucas of insolvency specialist Lucas Johnson said he would continue to trade the majority of stores while seeking a buyer for the business. However, five stores will close immediately with staff being made redundant. There will also be a number of redundancies within the firm’s head office.
Lucas said: “The administration had been caused by a number of factors, but the single largest factor is the unprecedented decline in turnover, which has been in the region of 20% over the past 12 months.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“The pressure on the high street is well known – disposable incomes and discretionary spending have been squeezed much more than anyone could have foreseen, meaning those retailing non-essential items have been hit much harder than expected and, as is common with many retail business, onerous leases and potentially high fixed central overheads mean little can be done to turn a business around outside of administration.
“The business continues to trade during the period of administration and we believe a suitable buyer will be found. I am pleased to have already received several expressions of interest in the business. We have secured the support of a major supplier to ensure sales are maximised during the coming weeks.
“It is inevitable that if a buyer is not found we will be forced to close the business, but my team and I will be working hard to try and avoid this happening.”
Online sales through the Textiles Direct website are made through a separate business which is unaffected by the administration.
