Joules to enter administration after failing to secure fresh funding

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Joules is to appoint administrators after the UK clothing group failed to find an investor to save the business, as the retail sector comes under increasing pressure.

The retailer said on Monday it had filed a notice to appoint Will Wright, Ryan Grant and Chris Mole of Interpath Advisory as administrators “as soon as reasonably practicable”.

The group employs just under 1,700 people according to its most recent annual report for the year to the end of May 2021.

Joules’s Aim-listed shares, which have fallen about 95 per cent this year, have been suspended.

The retailer, which sells colourful clothing and homeware inspired by British country lifestyles, had said earlier this month it was in “advanced discussions” with a number of investors to provide cornerstone funding for an equity increase. The possibility of a bridge financing proposal for “continued progress” had also been discussed.

However, the board said these discussions had ultimately been unsuccessful.

Joules’s move comes days after the demise of online furniture retailer Made.com, which boomed during the pandemic and floated last year with a £775mn valuation. It was acquired by Next last week in a £3.4mn deal.