M&Co Trading Limited

The intellectual property and brand of a large Scottish-based clothing and homeware retailer have been acquired out of administration, while the company’s almost 170 stores were not part of the deal and are reportedly set to close over the coming weeks, with the loss of up to 1,800 jobs.

M&Co Trading Limited was incorporated in May 2020 to acquire the business and assets of Meridian Realisations Limited (formerly Mackays Stores Limited) in a pre-pack transaction. The company has traded as M&Co since the transaction in August 2020, during the pandemic.

The company has suffered as a result of a drawn-out recovery in retail sales in the post-pandemic period. The deterioration in trading performance has been compounded by high inflation increasing the company’s cost basis, and a cost-of-living crisis impacting consumer behaviour.

In November 2022, the company had £12 million of overdue supplier payments, and was forecast to breach its lending facility limit in February 2023. The company concluded that there was a material risk that it would be unable to refinance its debt obligations upon maturity in March 2023.

Expecting a winding-up petition by a supplier due almost £400,000, the company’s directors filed an NOI on 1 December 2022, and the company entered administration on 9 December. Gavin Park and Adele Macleod of Teneo were appointed Joint Administrators.

Since their appointment, the Joint Administrators have secured the sale of the company’s intellectual property and brand to AK Retail Holdings, the owner of the larger sizes brand Yours Clothing, Long Tall Sally and Bump It Up Maternity.

The company’s almost 170 stores were not part of the deal, and it does not appear that AK Retail Holdings has taken on any of the company’s staff, meaning that around 1,800 employees are set to be made redundant.

The Joint Administrators have been assisted by Morton Fraser and Addleshaw Goddard.

Their Proposals can be found HERE.