Select tumbles into administration after 'horrendous' Christmas

The women’s fashion retailer blamed “prevailing high street conditions” for the failure of its restructuring process, which saw creditors vote through a company voluntary arrangement aimed at slashing rents less than a year ago.

As Retail Week revealed at the end of March, Quantuma LLP has been drafted in to handle the administration process.

Sources said Select, which has an annual turnover of £77m, suffered “horrendous” sales during the crucial Christmas trading period.

In a statement Quantuma said no redundancies have yet been made at the retailer, and that its administrators were “assessing the available options for the business to ensure its future operations” – including a sale, or even a CVA proposal.

Andrew Andronikou, joint administrator at Quantuma, said: “We will continue to trade Select while we assess all options available to the business, with the aim of achieving the optimum outcome for all stakeholders.

“Options include a sale of the business, in addition to entering into discussions with those parties who have already expressed interest in acquiring the business. To support these efforts, a dataroom has been established and any further expressions of interest are invited. We will also be assessing CVA proposals which have been put forward by the directors.”

It is not the first time that Select has gone into administration.

The retailer called in turnaround and recovery specialist UHY Hacker Young in February 2008. Turkish entrepreneur Cafer Mahiroglu bought it out of administration and has owned it since.