It has been confirmed that Manchester-based online fast fashion retailer Missguided has appointed administrators in attempts to save the brand.
The multi-channel fashion retailer – which sells clothes primarily aimed at 16-35 year old women, and had its headquarters based in Stretford before moving to Trafford Park in 2015 – was founded by Nitin Passi back in 2009 when he was just 26, and it grew grew into one of Britain’s biggest online-led fashion retailers alongside ASOS and fellow Manchester-based fast fashion brands, Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing.
But now, Missguided has asked Teneo Financial Advisory to sell its business and assets.
It comes after the business was issued with a winding-up petition by clothing suppliers, who are owed millions of pounds.
Teneo said Missguided will continue to trade while it looks for a buyer.
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Gavin Maher from Teneo said there was “a high level of interest from a number of strategic buyers”.
The Manchester-based online fast fashion retailer was founded in 2009 / Credit: Missguided
He added in a statement: “As we continue to see, the retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging [and] the joint administrators will now seek to conclude a sale of the business and assets, for which there continues to be a high level of interest from a number of strategic buyers.”
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The company employs around 330 staff members, with The Guardian reporting that about 140 jobs are thought to be at risk, and the publication citing a source as saying that more than 80 people had immediately been made redundant.
Reports suggest that rival and larger online fashion retailer, Boohoo – which bought a number of collapsing high street brands during the COVID-19 pandemic – had been in talks to buy Missguided in a prepack administration deal, and JD Sports and ASOS are also thought to have shown some interest, but a deal was not made.
The fashion retail company moved its HQ to state-of-the-art offices in Trafford Park in 2015 / Credit: Google Maps
In efforts to pinpoint why Missguided was on the brink of collapse, industry professionals and marketing experts said not only were some rival brands better, cheaper, and faster, but that shoppers now care more about sustainability and less about fast throwaway fashion.
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Julie Palmer – a partner at insolvency firm Begbies Traynor – also told the i newspaper that the cost of living crisis means shoppers are cutting back on spending on non-essentials like the fast fashion Missguided offers.
She said: “While Missguided boomed when we were locked down with no opportunity to spend wages going out, the harsh realities of post-pandemic life are becoming clear.”
The company has now asked Teneo Financial Advisory to sell its business and assets / Credit: Missguided
Ms Palmer added: “Rising inflation and worries about the potential for a recession mean that people just aren’t willing to spend on what they don’t need.
“Hopefully a buyer will see the potential in this company that means its suppliers continue to find an outlet for their products.”
Featured Image – Channel 4
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Manchester’s libraries to become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and WiFi this winter
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s libraries are set to become ‘warm welcome spaces’ offering free hot drinks and internet access to those in need again this winter.
After millions of local residents visited the ‘stigma-free safe spaces’ to escape and take refuge from the cold each year since they were first introduced in 2022, Manchester City Council has decided to reintroduce its popular ‘Warm Welcome Spaces’ scheme again this year during the chillier months.
All 22 of Manchester‘s public libraries are, once again, taking part in the scheme this time around.
Designed to ‘provide support to people who need it’ over some of the most challenging months of the year when temperatures drop, the Council’s scheme is offering a range of different services – and they’re all for free of charge.
Free hot drinks, WiFi and internet access, data SIM cards, and newspapers are just some of the things people can make the most of inside these ‘warm spaces’, as well as get access to information, advice, and extra signposting to other support services they made need in the city.
Manchester’s libraries will become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and WiFi again this winter / Credit: Haydon Waldeck | koolshooters (Pexels)
There will be age-friendly spaces to connect with others, story times once a week at 11am for children under five, and even weekly digital drop-ins too.
Manchester Central Library, Miles Platting Community Library, Hulme High Street Library, Beswick Library, Longsight Library, and Abraham Moss Library are just some of the libraries taking part this winter.
All 22 libraries will be free to enter, and the Council says people can stay in them ‘for as long as you like’.
“For many years, the Council has been a proud supporter of the Warm Welcome Spaces initiative,” explained Councillor Thomas Robinson, who is the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care at Manchester City Council.
“In Manchester we have been all too aware of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the hardships people have suffered as a result.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say this work has the potential to be lifesaving. The simple act of offering a person a safe place where they can interact with other Mancunians, to not feel alone or get the help they need, can have a lasting and meaningful impact.”
Find your local free ‘Warm Welcome Space’ in Manchester here.
Featured Image – RawPixel
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University fees set to increase in line with inflation but Government promises ‘better outcomes’ for students
Emily Sergeant
University tuition fees are set to increase in line with forecasted inflation for the next two academic years, the Government has announced.
Last year was the first year, since 2017, that tuition fees were increased in line with inflation, and now that the Office for Students is forecasting that 43% of institutions will be in deficit without further action to ‘shore up’ their finances, the Government has announced in its ‘landmark’ Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper – published this week – that fees will need to rise again.
To support universities in continuing to deliver world-class teaching and research, tuition fees will rise in line with forecast inflation for the next two academic years.
According to the Department for Education, legislation will then be brought forward, when parliamentary time allows, to enable automatic increases to fee caps in future years in line with inflation – but this will only be institutions that meet tough new quality thresholds set by the Office for Students.
Where standards are deemed to ‘fall short’, the Office for Students will then act quickly to stop the expansion of low-quality courses and will aim to hold providers to account.
University fees are set to increase in line with inflation for the next two years / Credit: PickPik
Universities that underperform could face financial and regulatory consequences, the Government has confirmed, as a way of ensuring public money is spent only on courses that deliver for students and the economy overall.
“Young people from all backgrounds feel they have been let down by a system that talks about opportunity but too often fails to deliver it,” commented Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, as the White Paper was published this week.
“Universities charge significant fees for their courses, but if they are going to charge the maximum, it is right that they deliver the world-class education students expect.
“These reforms will ensure value for money, higher standards across our universities and colleges and a renewed focus on the skills our economy needs.”
The Government has also said it will also work with universities and local authorities to ensure they offer ‘adequate accommodation’ for their students.
It will also support efforts to drive down the cost of living going forward.
Emily Sergeant -
31st May 2022 
