D2 Jeans, became the first post-Christmas retail casualty when it collapsed into administration.
The failure of the fashion retailer, which was bought out by its management team in January 2008, threatens nearly 800 jobs.
All the company’s 76 stores in Britain will remain open while BDO, the administrator, tries to find a buyer. At its Ayrshire head office, 22 staff were made redundant, while two of its three stores in Dublin were closed immediately, with the loss of 39 jobs.
BDO said that it held “substantial” levels of stock, enabling it to keep the stores open while a buyer was being sought. There have been at least seven expressions of interest.
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The retailer suffered from being locked into high rents in secondary high street locations. In the year ending January 2008, the latest for which figures are available, D2 made a pre-tax loss of £2.9 million, after £1.9 million loss the previous year.
It is the latest part of Sir Tom’s former business empire to fail. Last year, JJB Sports put Qube, the shoe business that it bought from Sir Tom’s West Coast Capital vehicle, into administration, while USC, another fashion retailer, went into a pre-pack administration to offload unprofitable stores.
In 2001, as D2 was poised for rapid expansion, Sir Tom expressed confidence in its prospects, saying: “Back in 1998, people were saying that Jeremy Clarkson [the television presenter] had killed off the jeans market. But it has bounced back. Really, it will never go away. It is such a versatile piece of clothing.”
James Stephen, co-administrator at BDO, said: “It is unfortunate that the economic climate and difficult trading conditions have significantly affected the retail sector. We are continuing to trade the business and hope to sell all or part of it as a going concern.”
Alan Kinney and Jim McGonigle, Sir Tom’s former business partners, led the management buyout of D2 early last year. They had run small denim retailers in Scotland, which Sir Tom acquired.