04 February 2023 , 03:06
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High street fashion retailer M&Co is set to close 170 of its stores, putting 1,910 jobs at risk.
The brand has been bought by Yours Clothing, which also owns clothing lines BadRhino, Long Tall Sally, and Bump It Up Maternity.
Drapers has confirmed the sale of the business, with Teneo handling the administration. A Teneo spokesman confirmed that the brand and intellectual property of M&Co will now be owned by Yours Clothing.
However, the stores have not been included in the sale, with 1,910 jobs at risk, according to an inside source, reported The Sun.
If the company was to go into liquidation, stores may disappear off the high street within weeks, but the process could take up to two months.
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Yours Clothing has bought all parts of the business apart from its stores (Geoffrey Swaine/REX/Shutterstock)The company fell into administration in December last year, with Teneo putting the business up for sale at auction.
Other high street stores, such as Frasers, Next or Marks & Spencers have not been interested in purchasing the brand, alongside Hilco Capital, who previously financed M&Co in 2020.
In terms of obtaining a refund while a business is in administration, for items purchased online, M&Co should provide a full cash refund as long as the item is in its original condition. Customers can use a free Royal Mail courier service to return the item.
Should a consumer want to return an item purchased online in store, M&Co can only issue gift cards or exchanges.
The same goes for items purchased in store.
It is best advised that anyone with a gift card should use it sooner rather than later, as when a company enters administration, the administrators can stop accepting gift cards at any point.
Anyone holding an M&Co gift card is urged to spend it sooner rather than later (Geoffrey Swaine/REX/Shutterstock)If this is the case, consumers should register a claim with the administrators for the value of the card.
It may be possible that the money may not be returned if other creditors are owed money.
Alongside M&Co, it has recently been announced that stationery brand, Paperchase, has also gone into administration, after failing to find a buyer.
The stores have since been closed, with Tesco opting to purchase the rights to the brand.
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The supermarket giant will sell Paperchase items in stores.
Alongside retailers, high-street food outlets, including Byron Burger, Las Iguanas, Café Rouge and Bella Italia have all entered administration.