Barratts Shoes goes into administration
High Street shoe chain Barratts has entered administration for a third time, with more than 1,000 jobs at risk in the UK and Ireland.
Barratts first went into administration in 2009
Duff & Phelps has been appointed as administrator and said it was reviewing the firm's financial position, as well as seeking a sale of the business.
"At this stage redundancies and/or store closures cannot be ruled out," it said.
The shoe chain first went into administration in 2009.
Philip Duffy, Duff & Phelps partner, blamed "difficult trading conditions" for its most recent failure.
He said an investor had recently offered to inject £5m into the shoe chain, but withdrew this offer on 7 November.
"In view of the financial position of the company and withdrawal of that equity offer the directors were left with no choice but to appoint administrators," said Mr Duffy.
Barratts has 75 stores and 23 concessions across the UK and Ireland employing 1,035 people in total.
Neil Saunders, managing director at retail consultancy Conlumino, said he expected Barratts to survive "in one form or another".
"I would be surprised if it disappeared from the High Street altogether. It has a sizeable estate. I expect it to emerge as a much smaller business with fewer stores," he added.
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