HMRC is owed £3.4m by Claire's Accessories UK Ltd, the former operating company behind Claire's, the high street teen jewellery and piercing chain.

The latest filing relates to Claire's Accessories UK Ltd, which entered administration under Will Wright and Chris Pole of Interpath in August 2025 before selling its business to CAUKI Limited a month later.

The £1.3m HMRC claim reported earlier this year related to CAUKI Limited's separate administration, which began on 26 January 2026 and is being handled by joint administrators Phil Dakin, Ben Wiles and Janet Burt of Kroll.

The latest administrators progress report from Interpath states Claire's Accessories UK is estimated to owe HMRC £3.4m in secondary preferential claims, although the report did not provide a breakdown of the claim.

‘Based on current estimates, we anticipate that secondary preferential creditors should receive a dividend. We have yet to determine the amount of this’.

Unsecured creditors however are ‘unlikely’ to receive a dividend, details were also lacking as to exact figures.

The report detailed how the September 2025 sale of the majority of the company’s estate to CAUKI, and its subsequent collapse, affected the administration.

‘Additional time is required to settle the remaining costs of the trading period and conclude outstanding property matters, which have been prolonged by the administration of CAUKI,’ it stated.

The report highlights the links between the two insolvencies, with Claire's Accessories UK Ltd receiving £1.8m in rent payments from CAUKI Limited during the reporting period under ‘licence to occupy agreements’ covering the store estate.

Administrators at Interpath confirmed their latest fee estimate was £7.2m, up from £4m originally approved, stating: ‘Our time costs have increased significantly in comparison to our initial fees estimate presented within the joint administrators' proposals’.