Luxury chocolate retailer Rococo collapses into administration.
31st May 2019. Updated 4th June 2019.
According to press association releases, Luxury chocolate brand Rococo has gone into administration.
The high-end chocolatier, which has five stores in central London, will now be searching for a buyer after management admitted they have been hit by “negative trading conditions”.
Rococo’s stores, which include its flagship site on King’s Road in Chelsea, will continue to trade in short term and no redundancies have been announced yet.
Rococo employed 66 staff according to its most recent company accounts and has appointed accountancy firm and insolvency specialists BDO LLP as administrators.
The company was founded in 1983 by entrepreneur Chantal Coady when she was just 23 years old. The businesswoman launched Rococo after working in Harrods on Saturdays selling sweets and chocolates.
She has also written five books and was awarded an OBE in 2014 for “services to chocolate”.
Rococo produces luxury, ethically produced chocolate in partnership with a small cocoa farm based in Grenada.
The brand sells gift boxes and artisan chocolate, which retails at £5.95 for a 70g bar. It also produced a limited edition chocolate caviar in 2017.
On the day administrators were appointed, Ms Coady announced via twitter: “Please say a little prayer for my first baby now, need all the positive energy we can get.
“Many thanks for your kindness and thoughts, everything is looking better this afternoon.”
BDO administrators Kerry Bailey and Danny Dartnaill are leading the search for a potential buyer for the business.
Mr Dartnaill said: “Difficult trading conditions negatively impacted the company’s working capital position and an administration was required to provide a stable financial platform to rescue the company.
“The joint administrators are continuing to trade Rococo Chocolates and are hopeful that a purchaser for the company or the business will be found.”
Update 4/6/19. 85,000 retail jobs lost in 2018
The chocolatier’s administration underlines ongoing difficulties for businesses on the UK high street, after 2018 emerged as one of the most challenging years for British physical retailers in recent history.
As consumers increasingly shop online and physical retailers see the costs of rent, wages and business rates rise, many businesses have struggled to stay afloat. Nearly 85,000 jobs were lost in the UK retail sector last year, with 1,000 retail companies going into administration in the first nine months of 2018 alone.
Major chains announce store closures
Against this backdrop, many major retailers have moved to shut stores and in some cases collapsed altogether, with several using CVAs in order to cut rent costs and get out of longterm lease burdens.
Chains including House of Fraser, Homebase, New Look, Debenhams and HMV have all closed sites or entered into administrations in the last year.
Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer last month announced plans to close 100 stores by 2022, whilst chemist chain Boots confirmed a review to close 200 sites nationwide.
The collapse is yet another for the UK’s high street and only adds to the evidence that UK retail is under extreme pressure at the moment.
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With pressures on the high street it is essential that you stay on top of the credit limits you grant retailers and watch carefully for any late payments.
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CPA is passionate about late payment
The Credit Protection Association has been protecting smaller firms against poor payment practices for over 100 years.
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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 cash flow and they try to deal with it by delaying payment to their suppliers, increasing your exposure to them.
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Why use a third party collector?
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.
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