Fashion retailer Bay Trading has gone into administration, putting 1,000 jobs at risk as hundreds of shops could be forced to shut.
Earlier this week, the company revealed it had lost £7.2m in 2008 as like-for-like sales fell by 16%. Parent company Alexon said Bay Trading had been reliant on funding from Alexon Group to continue operating.
About 268 shops will be forced to close.
Jane McNally, chief executive of Alexon, said: “It’s with deep sadness that we’ve reached the position we’re in today. Everyone at Bay Trading has worked very hard to try and turn it around and I’d like to thank all those who have been involved.”
Accountancy firm Deloitte is lined up to be the administrator next week.
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Bay Trading’s announcement comes as figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed retail sales in March were up 1.5% on a year ago.
In contrast, high-street stores Tesco and Carphone Warehouse announced they would be creating 21,000 jobs between them on the back of strong annual profits.
