Missguided is reportedly on the brink of collapse

It is said to owe one supplier £2million


Missguided is reportedly on the brink of financial collapse and owes millions to its suppliers.

According to a report in The i, three factory owners who supply goods to Missguided face going bankrupt after not being paid by the brand. One factory owner claims he is owed more than £500,000 from the brand and has had to sell his wife and mother’s jewellery in order to pay his staff.

He said: “I had to raise £40,000 to pay my staff’s wages, I was really in a bit of a pickle, so as a last resort last Friday we had to sell my mum’s and my wife’s gold to pay my staff wages – rings, bracelets, chains.”

Staff at Missguided HQ have reportedly stopped answering the phone to suppliers demanding their pay. And earlier this week factory owners turned up to the head office in Manchester. The police were called and all staff were sent home.

A winding-up petition was launched against Missguided by one of the suppliers on 10th May, demanding the company goes in compulsory liquidation, and a Manchester court is set to hear the case in July.

Another supplier is supporting the petition and claims Missguided is its sole customer and owes them £2million. They employ over 100 staff in their Leicester factory but had to shut the factory down last month as Missguided allegedly said they were temporarily stopping payments during a restructure.

In a statement to The i, a spokesperson for Missguided said: “Missguided is aware of the action being taken by certain creditors of the company in recent days, and is working urgently to address this. A process to identify a buyer with the required resources and platform for the business commenced in April and we expect to a provide an update on progress of that process in the near future.”

Missguided CEO Nitin Passi, who stepped down from the position last month, via Nils Jorgensen/Shutterstock

Missguided was founded in 2009 by CEO Nitin Passi, who last month announced he was stepping down from the position.

In December last year Missguided made a number of staff redundancies and sold a 50 per cent share in the brand to private equity company Alteri.

According to Retail Gazette a number of fashion brands including Asos, Shein, and JD Sports have all considered placing bids for the brand.

The website is currently still active and customers are still able to make purchases.

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