BHS has officially entered administration following its last attempt to recover the long-suffering department store chain.
Duff & Phelps confirmed that it had placed BHS into administration today.
BHS staff were informed of the retailer‘s current position this morning and will terminate their contracts after this month‘s pay.
The announcement comes weeks after BHS secured £55m through a CVA, but it seems this will not be enough to recover the seven-year loss making retailer. BHS also attempted to gain £60m of funding from lenders Gordon Brothers, however this was rejected last week.
“The group has been undergoing restructuring and, as has been widely reported, the shareholders have been in negotiations to find a buyer for the business. These negotiations have been unsuccessful. In addition property sales have not materialised as expected in both number and value. Consequently, as a result of a lower than expected cash balance, the group is very unlikely to meet all contractual payments” Duff & Phelps said.
“The directors therefore have no alternative but to put the group into administration to protect it for all creditors.
“The group will continue to trade as usual whilst the administrators seek to sell it as a going concern. Further announcements will be made as appropriate in due course.”
“It is with a deep heart that I have to report, despite a massive effort from the team, we have been unable to secure a funder or a trade sale” said BHS‘s owner Dominic Chappell in a letter to staff.
“I would like to say it has been a real pleasure working with all of you on the BHS project, one I will never forget, you all need to keep your heads held high, you all have done a great job, but remember that it was always going to be very, very hard to turn around.”
