By Amna Karimi and Muhammed Husain
(Reuters) -British retailer Joules Group on Wednesday appointed three administrators from advisory firm Interpath Ltd after the struggling clothing company failed to find investors.
The company, which employs 1,600 people and has 132 shops in Britain and Ireland, named Will Wright, Ryan Grant and Chris Pole to Joules Group and Joules Ltd as administrators.
The retailer has been struggling with its finances, profitability and cash generation as consumers turn cautious about discretionary spending amid a cost of living crisis.
Joules added that Wright and Grant have also been appointed as administrators to Joules Developments Ltd and Garden Trading Company, which it bought in February last year.
In a joint statement, the administrators confirmed that all stores, including the group’s online store, will remain open and there have been no redundancies.
The news comes days after Joules announced its plans to appoint administrators, becoming the latest retailer to face collapse as shoppers tighten their belts.
“Since the Group’s announcement on Monday, we have had an overwhelming amount of interest from interested parties,” they added.
Earlier this month the online furniture seller Made.com collapsed into administration, resulting in about 400 job losses.
Joules expects the listing of its ordinary shares to be cancelled in due course.
The company, which sells clothing, footwear and accessories, had earlier terminated talks with retailer Next Plc over a potential 15 million pound equity investment.
Next ended up buying the Made.com brand last week.
Joules had also warned of an annual loss due to high levels of discounting and a shortfall in full price sales which led to a drop in its retail margins in August.
(Reporting by Amna Karimi and Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Nick Zieminski)
