Children’s clothing retailer falls into administration

Designer Childrenswear Limited, a retailer of designer children’s clothing, has fallen into administration. The Sunderland-based company has ceased trading, with all 30 employees made redundant and an asset sale process underway.

FRP Advisory’s Andrew Haslam and Allan Kelly were appointed as joint administrators on November 27 and have subsequently secured a sale of the firm’s stock and shopfittings to a trade buyer, with its freehold premises now being marketed for sale.

Designer Childrenswear was founded in 1984 and specialised in retailing designer children’s clothing. The company retailed more than 160 brands and shipped to in excess of 120 countries worldwide. It was run by husband and wife Brenda and Kevin Coade and had a brick and mortar store on Derwent Street in Sunderland.

Like many retailers, the company had experienced a sustained period of challenging trading conditions which led to cashflow pressures that meant it could not meet its financial obligations. Prior to ceasing trading, however, all customer orders were fulfilled.

Joint administrator and FRP Restructuring Advisory Partner Andrew Haslam said: "Unfortunately, like many other businesses in the retail industry, Designer Childrenswear Limited was not immune to a significant fall in demand and mounting external pressures, most notably rising costs, made the business financially unviable.”

"Regrettably, this meant all staff were made redundant on appointment. We're supporting the individuals affected to file claims with the Redundancy Payments Services and working with property agents to release the property assets for marketing."

In its most recent accounts at Companies House, for the year ending April 30 2022, the firm’s fixed assets were valued at £632,010, with current assets valued at £1.9 million, while net assets amounted to £510,136 at the time.



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