A MAJOR update has been issued after a big shoe retailer put dozens of branches at risk.
Hotter Shoes has been rescued by knitwear brand WoolOvers in a pre-pack administration deal.
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The parent company of Hotter Shoes filed to appoint administrators earlier this week.
But sources told The Sun that a pre-pack deal was likely to be announced within days.
And it’s now been confirmed that the sale to WoolOvers will see all 421 employees and 26 stores transferred over to the fashion brand.
It comes after Hotter Shoes owner Unbound said last week that it was on the brink of collapse unless it raised £2million in emergency funding.
The company continued talks to find a buyer of Hotter Shoes’ assets but recognised that these had been unsuccessful today.
The company said on Monday: “It is now clear to the board that it is no longer appropriate to progress these parallel discussions further”.
Unbound Group, the owner of Hotter Shoes, appointed Will Wright and Rick Harrison of Interpath Advisory as administrators.
Administration is when all control of a company is passed on to an appointed insolvency practitioner.
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It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the business.
Instead, administrators try to help a company find ways to repay debts or solve its cashflow problems.
The pre-pack deal with WoolOvers could still put all 26 Hotter Shoes stores at risk of closure in the future.
The knitwear brand only operates a single store in Burgess Hill, West Sussex and is heavily focused on e-commerce sales.
At the moment Hotter Shoes has stores in the following locations:
- Aberdeen Dobbies Garden Centre
- Atherstone Dobbies Garden Centre
- Bicester
- Bromley
- Cambridge
- Canterbury
- Cardiff
- Chesterfield Dobbies Garden Centre
- Chichester
- Dorchester
- Eastbourne
- Edinburgh Princes Street
- Exeter
- Glasgow
- Kingston Upon Thames
- Lasswade Dobbies Garden Centre
- Llandudno
- Norwich
- Hassocks Notcutts Garden Centre
- Rivendell Notcutts Garden Centre
- Wheatcroft Notcutts Garden Centre
- Rugby
- Solihull
- Southend-on-Sea
- Southport
- York
However, the move doesn’t automatically mean that Hotter Shoes’ stores could close as all trade and assets have been taken on by WoolOvers.
WoolOvers, which is owned by Verdane, a European investment firm, last tried to buy Hotter Shoes in April but was trumped by a rival bid that was later withdrawn.
Numerous high street brands have collapsed into administration in the last 12 months.
From the Scottish clothing brand M&Co to wellies store Joules, a number of familiar brands went bust in 2022.
Major burger chain Byron Burger fell into administration in January and immediately shut all nine restaurants.
Paperchase then collapsed into administration at the end of the same month and all 106 stores have since closed for good.
But M&Co recently announced that it would return to the high street after Yours Clothing snapped up the brand name.
In 2020, Hotter Shoes launched a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) which resulted in the permanent closure of 46 stores.
