Struggling retail chain Select Fashion has thrown in the towel and collapsed with reports saying that hundreds of staff have been left without pay following the closure of its stores. However, the selectfashion.co.uk webstore appears to be operational and a number of stores are continuing to trade.
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Insolvency specialist Moorfields is winding down the womenswear chain after a creditor’s meeting late last week approved the voluntary liquidation and after it closed 35 stores in the middle of last month with the store closure process having gone on quietly since earlier this year.
Reports said workers at the closed shops won’t be paid outstanding wages for hours worked before the closures happened and have been directed to apply for statutory redundancy pay from the Government.
As for the 48 remaining stores, it’s believed that staff there will see their wages being delayed, although The Sun newspaper quoted an email that assured them their ages would be paid next week.
Neither Select nor Moorfields has issued an official statement about the collapse, although it comes as little surprise in the current tough environment and after the business entered into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) last year overseen by Moorfields.
It’s not the first failure for Select, which was in administration back in 2019 before Genus UK recused it. But Genus went into administration in 2022. The firm has since been owned by Turkish businessman Cafer Mahiroglu and the latest year for which accounts are available (to February 2023) showed it with a pre-tax loss of £1.1 million.
