Victoria’s Secret’s UK arm has fallen into administration, putting nearly 800 jobs at risk.
The lingerie specialist, which operates 25 shops across the UK, has appointed Deloitte as administrators.
Deloitte described the administration as ‘light touch’, with management set to continue the day-to-day operations of the business and no immediate redundancies to be made as a buyer for the business division is sought.
Victoria’s Secret’s UK arm made an operating loss of £170m in the year to February 2019 and had already furloughed its 785-strong UK workforce in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Victoria’s Secret UK stores will continue to trade once they are allowed to reopen for the time being and the administration does not apply to its ecommerce division, which will continue to operate.
Deloitte’s Rob Harding said the administration was a “further example of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic is having on the entire retail industry”.
“The effect of the lockdowns, combined with broader challenges facing bricks-and-mortar retailers, has resulted in a funding requirement for this business, resulting in today’s administration,” he added.
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