Online fashion retailer Missguided called administrators after failing to secure a ransom offer.
Teneo’s administrators were appointed on Monday after the company received a liquidation petition from clothing suppliers who are owed millions of pounds.
Teneo’s Gavin Maher said: “As we continue to see, the retail business environment in the UK remains extremely challenging.
“The joint managers will now be looking to finalize a sale of the business and assets, so there continues to be a high level of interest from a number of strategic buyers.”
Around 140 jobs are believed to be at risk, with The Guardian citing a source as saying more than 80 people were immediately made redundant.
Teneo said Missguided will continue trading while a buyer for the business is sought.
Boohoo, a larger online fashion retailer, had been in talks to buy Missguided in a prepackage management deal.
JD Sports and ASOS are also believed to have shown some interest, but no deal was reached.
Missguided was founded by Nitin Passi in 2009 when he was just 26 and has gone on to become one of Britain’s largest online fashion retailers, competing with ASOS and Boohoo.
However, their journey was not without serious difficulties, including in 2017 when one of their Leicester-based suppliers was charged after an undercover investigation of paying the workers less than the minimum wage.
In 2019, she faced scrutiny for selling a £1 bikini but responded by saying the garment “had cost us more than £1 to produce and we’re absorbing the costs so we can offer it at an unbelievable price as a gift to our customers.” “.
Missguided opened a handful of brick-and-mortar stores, including one in London’s Westfield department store, but decided to close them after deciding its operating losses were too great to justify.
Source: news.sky.com