LK Bennett set to file for administration
High street fashion house LK Bennett, a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, is set to file for administration, putting up to 500 jobs at 41 stores at risk. LK Bennett is said to be working with EY to help decide the “best way through” the upcoming “difficult and unstable times.” The Mail looks at how royal endorsement can lead to financial problems for fashion companies, throwing production processes into disarray leading to spiralling costs. The Telegraph cites experts who say prices hikes left shoppers behind while high business rates also hit the company hard.
LK Bennett seeks funding to fend off insolvency
High street retailer LK Bennett has announced that it is looking for emergency funding to stay afloat, as the chain attempts to avoid going into administration.
In an email to employees, company founder Linda Bennett referred to the challenging conditions facing high street businesses, stating: “These are difficult and unstable times, and we are doing everything we can to identify the best way forward.”
Having sold her majority stake in the chain to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2008, Bennett bought back the business in 2017 after it began to struggle, and invested an estimated £11.2m into turning it around. The most recent figures show that the firm lost £6million in the year to July 2017.
UPDATE 11/3/2019. LK Bennett calls in administrators
High-end fashion chain LK Bennett has collapsed into administration, with EY appointed to carry out the process. Joint administrator Dan Hurd said that amid “tough trading conditions” for retailers, LK Bennett had been “further impacted by significant rent increases and business rate rises”. According to the most recent accounts, LK Bennett had 130 stores globally – with 41 in the UK employing around 480 staff.
The FT reported on Saturday that sources who know LK Bennett founder Linda Bennett have suggested she might buy the best parts of the business out of administration in a pre-pack insolvency.
High street retailers face tough market
The past year has proved incredibly difficult for high street businesses. Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive at shopper marketing agency Savvy, notes that “expensive store estates and a shopper who is spending more time online” have proven a bad combination for brick-and-mortar retailers, with dozens of brands entering administration in recent months.
Orla Kiely, Coast, and East all went into administration last year, alongside Toys R Us, Maplin and Poundworld. In addition, retailers including New Look, Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and Homebase all took drastic action to avoid entering administration – entering Company Voluntary Agreements and announcing significant store closures. US fashion chain Gap has also announced plans to close 230 stores.
BetterBathrooms enters administration
As LK Bennett fights to stay afloat, retail chain BetterBathrooms has also announced that it is entering administration. The UK’s largest independent bathroom retailer has made all but 10 of its 335 employees redundant and closed all showrooms and trade counters, with administrators saying that the company had “suffered from severe cashflow difficulties and an extended period of soft trading.”
To avoid being sunk by difficult trading conditions and to guard against the threat of both lowering profit margins and potential late payments from struggling clients, businesses should streamline their overheads and fortify their credit management systems to provide as robust liquidity cushion as is possible.
Do you need a cash injection?
Your business might need a cash injection like LK Bennett but are you finding it hard to secure that funding?
Rather than have to deal with difficult bankers, do you realise there may be a hidden source of capital within your business waiting to be activated.
If you trade with other businesses and were often paid late then you could be entitled to significant compensation.
Under little known and barely used legislation your business could be due huge sums that you didn’t even know you were due.
That compensation could be the cash injection your business needed.
How can CPA help?
CPA has developed a unique technology to dig into your accounting records and discover the cash injection you are due by means of compensation. The software does all the hardwork. Our software interacts over the cloud with over 300 different software packages, working directly with your accounts package, just so long as it’s stored on a computer.
We do the work, you receive the cash.
If you have supplied goods and services to businesses on credit and were regularly paid late then you could be due significant sums in late payment compensation.
We are talking to companies and unearthing claims in the hundreds of thousands from former business customers who paid them late. Large business customers who abused their power to inflict unfair and sometimes illegal payment practices.
We are helping companies that were looking to close down, who looked insolvent and finding that cash injection they need to avoid insolvency.
The Credit Protection Association has been protecting smaller firms against poor payment practices for over 100 years.
We are passionate about breaking the late payment culture that holds back the UK economy and threatens many SMEs with cash flow difficulties being the single biggest killer of Britain’s small businesses.
If you were regularly paid late we can help. Those former customers used you to boost their own cashflow, regularly paying you late.
As a result you had extra costs, you had the distraction of having to chase payment, you had opportunity costs because your capital was tied up in their late invoices.
Under little used legislation, you are entitled to compensation for those late payments.
Now you can boost your own cash-flow.
CPA can help unearth the those hidden treasures.
We have the technology to reveal the compensation you are due and we have the extensive experience and expertise to then turn those claims into cash.
Yes, CPA can help you boost your business cashflow.
Don’t et your bankers control you, contact CPA today.
About CPA
The Credit Protection Association can help!
Formed in 1914, CPA has been providing credit management services to SMEs for over 100 years.
At the Credit Protection Association, we provide first class credit information that can help you avoid being over extended to customers who are at risk. Our monitoring service can flag up warning signs long before the end, giving you the chance to adjust and reduce your exposure. We provide recommended credit limits and credit scores on a traffic light system and can help you set appropriate credit policies for your customers.
We regularly publish lists of the latest insolvencies but by then it is too late. Our credit reports however predict approximately 96% of company insolvencies long before they arrive.
Companies in trouble usually have very bad bad cash flow and they try to deal with it by delaying payment to their suppliers, increasing your exposure to them.
If you supply on credit, help us help you identify the risks.
As a third party collector, we can also get your payments prioritised over those who are not as hot on collections. When you customer receives a letter from the Credit Protection Association regarding their outstanding account, they are going to want to get that resolved as a priority. Our overdue account recovery service can get your unpaid invoices to the top of their “to do” list and get your invoice paid.
Over the years we have collected billions in overdue invoices for our customers.
Our debt recovery and credit management services give our members the financial freedom needed to grow and prosper, while our new Late Payment Compensation department could unlock hidden potential and offer the compensation needed to springboard your business to success.
Ready to speak to an advisor?
For help or advice on credit management, entirely without obligation.
Call us today
0330 053 9263
The Credit Protection Association is a credit management company established in 1914. If you supply goods or services on credit then we can help you!
Keep up to date with the latest news by following us on social media:-
How to overcome 25 of the most common excuses for non-payment
Discover how to improve your cashflow in 3 steps.
Read our blog – Debt collection agency
Read our Cash Flow Advice
Read about our overdue account recovery service
Read our blog – What is credit management?
Read our blog -What is a credit management company?
Read our blog -Credit Management that works!
Read our blog – How to select a debt collection agency
click to see read about our successes