Member Article

La Senza goes back into administration risking 752 UK jobs

Underwear chain La Senza has gone into administration for the second time in 2 years.

The group’s former owners, private equite group Lion Capital and Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis, who bought it for £100 million in 2006.

Alshaya bought out 60 of La Senza’s 146 stores from administrators KPMG, with the remaining 86 stores closing with a loss of 1,300 jobs.

But trading did not significantly improve after the takeover. La Senza had sales in 2012 of £43 million and suffered a pre-tax loss of £26 million.

Robert Moran, Mike Jervis and Stuart Maddison of PwC were appointed as joint administrators of Marnixheath Limited on 1 July 2014.

The company operates 55 stores under the La Senza brand in the UK and three Pinkberry outlets under the Pinkberry brand in the UK. In total the company employs 752 staff across England, Wales and Scotland.

The La Senza UK store portfolio was acquired in 2012, but has experienced very difficult trading conditions. This has resulted in the company being placed into administration, despite sustained efforts to make the businesses more commercially viable.

The North American operations of La Senza and throughout the rest of the world remain unaffected by the actions taken in the UK.

Robert Moran, joint administrator at PwC said: “The challenging conditions in the UK high street are well documented. Like many other retailers, La Senza has been hit hard by the difficult economic environment and a slowdown in consumer spending.

“The administrators are continuing to trade the businesses as normal for the time being whilst discussions take place with interested parties in respect of a sale. We welcome any approaches to purchase all or part of the store portfolio.

“There are no immediate plans to close any stores and the Administrators shall continue to assess the trading strategy over the coming days and weeks.

“Staff have been –and will continue to be paid for their work. The company and the administrators are making every effort to help staff at this difficult time. “

© Copyright Betty Longbottom and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .