Laura Ashley administrators make redundancies and furlough staff

The PwC joint administrators made 268 staff across several head office and back-office roles redundant on Monday and furloughed a further 1,669 store employees yesterday.

Laura Ashley fell into administration on March 17, blaming the spread of coronavirus for hampering sales, and PwC joint administrators Robert Lewis and Zelf Hussain were appointed.

Lewis and Zelf said the 1,669 furloughed store employees would be placed on the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme – under which staff are paid 80% of their salary up to £2,500 by the government.

The administrators also said they would continue to trade Laura Ashley’s online business, with relevant staff working from home where possible.

In the announcement, the administrators said they were in continued discussions with certain interested parties over a sale of the struggling retail business.

Joint administrator Robert Lewis said: “It is obviously disappointing to have to announce redundancies at what is already a challenging time for individuals dealing with Covid-19 disruption. However, we have taken this difficult step to improve the viability of the business while we continue to engage with interested parties around a potential sale.

“We will, of course, provide all affected staff with the necessary support during this difficult time, which will include working with various agencies and employers who have vacancies. We will also be providing support to those staff and the many remaining staff in the group’s operations in Newtown, Coalville and the head office in Chelsea.

“We would like to thank the employees for the support, service and cooperation they have provided to Laura Ashley, both before and during the period of administration to date.

“Alongside supporting staff, our key objective as administrators is to progress the solid expressions of interest from parties who are interested in acquiring the business. We believe there is strong value in the group and the brand, and we remain focused on doing all we can to achieve a sale.”