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Fashion retailer Bank, with stores in Sheffield and Doncaster, enters administration
Scores of South Yorkshire jobs have been put at risk after fashion retailer Bank was put into administration.
The chain, with stores in Sheffield Meadowhall and Doncaster, has 1,555 employees across the country in 84 stores.
A total of 41 people are employed at the Meadowhall store, and 17 people work at the Doncaster store in the Frenchgate Centre.
It has become the first major retail casualty of 2015 after announcing it has been put into administration, putting all 58 South Yorkshire jobs at risk.
Bank also runs a clearance store in Parkgate, Rotherham, but it is not yet clear if it has also been affected.
Bill Dawson, Daniel Smith and Paul Meadows of Deloitte, were appointed as joint administrators to Bank Fashion Limited yesterday.
Bank was described as ‘loss-making for a number of years’ by Deloitte, which also said no redundancies have been made ‘at this time’, that stores are still open and trading as normal, and that staff have been paid.
The firm also said it has been approached by ‘several parties’ who have ‘expressed an interest’ in buying out the struggling retail chain.
Mr Dawson, joint administrator and partner in Deloitte’s Restructuring Services practice, said: “Bank has struggled in a highly competitive segment of the retail industry and has been loss-making for a number of years.
“A review of the business has determined that a solvent turnaround would not be possible and so its director has sought the appointment of joint administrators.
“All stores are open as normal, staff have been paid and additional sale discounts will be implemented later this week.
“The company has already been approached by several parties who have expressed an interest in the business and the administrators are trading as a going concern with a view to progressing these options and seeking further interested parties for some or all of the business.”
