Thousands of employees at high street shoe chain Barratts and PriceLess are threatened with job loss as attempts to avert crisis failed. Parent company, Stylo’s deal with landlords and creditors to retrieve Priceless and Barratts from administration did not materialise.

Stylo chief executive Michael Ziff had warned that if rescue proposals were not accepted, jobs of nearly 5,400 people will be at risk. Barratts and PriceLess have already gone into administration on January 26. Stylo is likely to apply to be placed in administration in next 2 days, under Deloitte.

Stylo was expecting that creditors of Barratts and PriceLess would ensure to retrieve the business from administration through Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), giving breathing space to company in repayment of debt.

Joint administrator, Daniel Butters, of Deloitte, confirmed that landlords and creditors refused to accept CVA proposal put before them in a meeting yesterday. He also stated that company was seeking to achieve a sale in order to preserve maximum jobs and was holding dialogue with interested parties to find a quick solution.
Stylo runs 400 high street shoe stores under PriceLess and Barratts brands in the UK and employs 5,450 people.

Stylo, which has headquarters in Yorkshire and Bradford, was founded in 1935.

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