High street retailers Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop (TOFS) are set to enter administration after their owner said “last-ditch” efforts to save the businesses had failed, putting around 2,500 UK jobs at risk.
The two chains, which had already undergone restructuring, were acquired by investment firm Modella Capital last year. In a statement, Modella said it had made the “tough decision” to begin insolvency proceedings for both retailers.
As a result, 1,355 employees across 154 Claire’s stores in the UK and Ireland are now at risk of redundancy, along with 1,220 staff working at 140 TOFS stores.
A spokesman for the company said: “We have worked intensively in an effort to save both businesses, having made last-ditch attempts to rescue them, but neither has a realistic possibility of trading profitably again.
“In these circumstances, administration is the only option.
“In both cases, the legacy effects of trading prior to our ownership left them highly vulnerable.”
Modella said tough retail conditions, including from government policies, were causing British businesses to “suffer”.
“The climate on the high street remains extremely challenging, and TOFS and Claire’s are not alone in experiencing difficulties,” the firm said.
“A combination of very weak consumer confidence, highly adverse government fiscal policies, and continued cost inflation, is causing many established and much-loved businesses to suffer badly.
“It’s a simple fact that if retailers can’t make money, they risk having to close, and jobs across the country are lost.”
For the latest news and breaking news visit liverpoolecho.co.uk/news
Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by signing up to our daily and breaking newsletter.
