A FASHION retailer with branches in Hampshire has gone into administration.

M&Co appointed administrators on Friday, December 9 amid rising costs and weakening consumer confidence.

The business is still trading and there has been no word on branch closures while administrators look for a buyer. 

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The men and women's fashion chain has branches in Southampton Road, Ringwood; The Hundred, Romsey; and Gosport High Street.

A statement on the M&Co website said: “Adele MacLeod, Gavin George Scott Park and Robert James Harding of Teneo Financial Advisory Limited were appointed Joint Administrators of M&Co Trading Limited (“the Company”) on 9 December 2022.

“The affairs, business and property of the Company are managed by the Joint Administrators. The Joint Administrators act as agents of the Company and contract without personal liability.”

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Teneo Financial Advisory said M&Co, headquartered in Scotland, is one of the UK’s largest privately-owned fashion and lifestyle retailers, with 170 stores across the UK and an e-commerce platform, employing 1,910 staff.

Gavin Park, joint administrator, said: “Like many retailers, the company has experienced a sharp rise in its input costs, which has coincided with a decline in consumer confidence leading to trading challenges. Despite a very loyal customer base, particularly in local markets, and a well-recognised brand, the current economic outlook has placed increasing pressure on the company’s cash position.

"No immediate redundancies have been made and the joint administrators are now exploring a potential sale of the business in an accelerated timeframe, during which time the company will continue to trade from its stores and website."

M&Co has been in administration once before, in 2020, when 47 stores and 381 jobs were lost while the business was restructured and taken over by a new trading company.

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