The embattled fashion and homewares chain has admitted that its majority shareholder, MUI Asia, is in discussions with Wells Fargo about its finances as it races to secure its future.

Laura Ashley said talks are ongoing over a deal that would “allow the group to utilise sufficient funds from the Wells Fargo facility to meet the group’s immediate funding requirements”.

It added that the potential deal would also provide it with headroom to “meet ongoing working capital needs for the group in the short to medium term”.

However, Laura Ashley did not provide any certainty that a deal would be struck with Wells Fargo and said it was “monitoring the situation closely”.