Bruce Cartwright, Lyn Vardy and Toby Underwood of PwC have been appointed as joint administrators of Internacionale UK Ltd.

Internacionale was formed from the administration of a predecessor business in July 2013 and was sold to existing management in a prepack deal organised by EY. The company has since downsized its store network to 89 outlets across the UK, with approximately 1000 staff, but has failed to grow as anticipated. 

Earlier this year, the owners engaged advisers to produce a turnaround and contingency plan intended to secure support for the business until late March, when the company’s ongoing viability would be reassessed. As part of an interim cost cutting exercise, 90 redundancies were recently made, mostly at head office.

Continued poor trading and increasing creditor pressure, particularly from rating authorities and landlords, have meant the shareholders have now decided they can no longer support the business.

Bruce Cartwright, joint administrator and partner at PwC said: ‘The company directors have worked with key stakeholders to try and find a solution to preserve the business. However, these efforts have proved to be unsuccessful against the backdrop of a fiercely competitive retail sector which, despite the improving economic conditions, can be unforgiving to businesses in financial distress.’

 Cartwright said the administrators intend to continue to trade over the coming weeks in order to sell as much of the retail stock as possible and maximise the return to creditors, and would welcome any approaches to purchase parts of the store portfolio and safeguard jobs.

‘Unfortunately, unless a willing purchaser for the business or store portfolio is forthcoming, it is inevitable that redundancies and store closures will become necessary as the administration process continues,’ Cartwright said.