On December the 23rd UK lingerie retailer La Senza announced its intention to enter admininistration, saying “Due to trading conditions in La Senza’s high street locations and the overall macro environment which are having an adverse effect on the company, the board of directors of La Senza has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.”
Under the UK Insolvency Act, an administrator will need to be selected within 10 days. An La Senza spokeswoman added, “For the avoidance of doubt, the company is not currently in administration, and no administrator has been appointed. The company continues to work with KPMG to explore all options to safeguard the future of the company and its employees. Further announcements will be made in due course.”
The High Street retailer, which employs around 2,600 staff across 146 stores and 18 in-store concessions, stated that for the time being it would continue to trade and there have been no unplanned redundancies or store closures. The firm added its 13 international franchises, which range from Latvia to Iceland, are not expected to be affected by the UK firm entering administration.
In 2006 La Senza (the UK chain, not to be confused with Canadian lingerie firm which shares the name, from which the UK stores were spun off) was bought by a private equity group, Lion Capital. In 2011 it had sales of approx. £140m.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, former La Senza owner Theo Paphitis said, “It’s sad because it’s a company that I used to consider was my baby back in the early 2000s and it’s sad to see it go off the High Street. But it’s a sign of the times I suppose.”
Entrepreneur Paphitis, famed for his BBC Dragons’ Den appearances, had bought the UK chain in 1998, worked to revitalise the business and sold his stake in the firm to Lion Capital for £100m.
