Ethel Austin falls into administration threatening thousands of jobs
February 8th, 2010 by Rob Moore
It looks like January’s cold-snap has found another victim, in the shape of retail clothing chain Ethel Austin.
Some 3,700 jobs are at risk as a result of the firm’s fall into administration, along with its sister company, homeware retailer Au Naturale.
MCR is handling the administration of the chain and spokesperson, Geoff Bouchier, stated, "the joint administrators are trading the companies in administration in the short term with a view to finding a purchaser for the businesses as a going concern.”
He added, "we are reviewing the financial position of the companies and are, at this stage, unable to rule out store closures and redundancies.”
MCR said that the chain had suffered as a result of the snow that fell in January, keeping shoppers at home and out of the stores. MCR said this had a “big impact on sales.”
This is the second time in two years that the Ethel Austin chain has fallen into administration, the first occurring in April 2008. Then, the company was sold to MKOne founder Elaine McPherson. At the time of the sale, McPherson said she was going to return the clothing chain to its “former glory.”
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