High street retailer M&Co will start closing 170 of its stores across the UK within days after troubled chain collapsed into administration
- The first shops will close their doors forever in parts of Scotland later this month
- All 170 shops will eventually shut after administrators sold the retailer’s brand
Fashion retailer M&Co will start shutting up all 170 of its shops in the UK within days in another crippling blow for Britain’s beleaguered high streets.
Plummeting sales and rising costs saw the troubled retailer fall into difficulties, with administrators Teneo last month confirming it had sold the M&Co brand – but not the company’s stores.
About 1,900 jobs are now set to be axed nationwide, as the retailers branches close forever, with some shops already confirming when their last day will be on social media.
The fashion giant, previously called Mackay’s, fell into administration for the second time in two years in December 2022. Teneo sold the brand and intellectual property to Yours Clothing.
Among the first stores set to close include M&Co’s Wick and Fort William sites, in Scotland, with their last day of trading taking place on Saturday, March 25.
Britain’s struggling high streets have been dealt another fresh blow as it was announced fashion giant M&Co will shut 170 shops – putting 1,910 jobs at risk
The closures were confirmed on both of the stores’ Facebook pages, with M&Co’s Wick’s site saying: ‘The day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived, and we can now confirm that the final trading day for our Wick branch will be Saturday, March 25.
‘We won’t be receiving any further stock into the store, so hurry and grab your favourite items before they’re gone!
‘We would like to thank you for your support during our administration, and hope to see you all in the store before we say goodbye.’
M&Co’s Thurso branch in Scotland is also earmarked to close before the end of the month, with The Sun reporting it will shut on Tuesday, March 28.
The M&Co brand has been bought by Yours Clothing, according to Drapers . A spokesman from Teneo, who were appointed as administrators of the business, confirmed the sale of M&Co brand and intellectual property to Yours Clothing but not the stores, The Sun reports
The shutters will come down on six more stores on April 1 in Lewes, Gosport in Hampshire, Belper, Beccles, Newquay and Lerwick
In a post on Gosport’s Facebook page, the site’s store manager said: ‘It is with great sadness that I can now announce that our last trading day in M&CO Gosport will be Saturday, April 1, 2023.
‘We will most definitely miss every single one of our many lovely customers we have gained over so many years, lots of generations of customers have shopped with us.
‘I would like to thank all the kind and thoughtful things our customers have said to us since finding out we were in administration last December.
‘We have some great offers in-store so please don’t be strangers… it’s going fast… with too many fantastic bargains.
‘Thank you from Karen and the Gosport team.’
Teneo, M&Co’s administrator, said further stores will close as store stock dries up. But no exact date has been given as to when the brand is due to vanish completely from the high street.
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