In The Style owed more than £20m when it was rescued after collapsing into administration, it has been revealed.
The Manchester-based fast-fashion brand rescued by Alps Sourcing Limited last week in a deal which secured 87 jobs.
The debts have been revealed in a new document filed with Companies House by administrator FTS Recovery.
What’s the background?
In The Style was founded by Adam Frisby in 2013 and was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM but was sold in a fire sale to Baaj Capital for just over £1m in March 2023.
At the end of 2024, In The Style had slashed jobs in a bid to stem its losses amid continuing falling sales.
The fast-fashion retailer posted a pre-tax loss of £2.6m for the year to 31 March, 2024, down from the £7.7m loss it reported in the prior 12 months.
Its revenue was cut from £45.9m to £30.4m over the same period. The latest total was also down from the £57.3m it generated in 2022.
The results came after founder Adam Frisby quit the brand in recent months.
Frisby set up the Manchester-based brand from his bedroom in 2013 and served as its chief executive for nine years before leaving the firm in January 2022.
But he returned as chief executive in December that year and left the role again 12 months later.
In The Style had been in talks with London-listed Iconic Labs over a reverse takeover since March 2024.
Iconic Labs, which is now headquartered in London, was established as Widecells Group in 2018 and was based in Manchester.
The company suspended the trading of its shares at the end of February 2024.
Founder turns down rescue approach
In its report to Companies House, administrator FTS Recovery said: “In recent months the company has continued to struggle with cash flow as a result of significant legacy contracts, at a time when the market has seen a significant downturn in sales as a result of the current economic climate and cost-of-living crisis.
“These contracts are reported by the board to have cost the company c.£1m since the new management takeover.
“These cash flow pressures have led to a failure to meet contractual obligations, which in turn has led to negative publicity and damage to the company’s goodwill.”
FTS Recovery added that it did reach out to In The Style founder Adam Frisby to see if he was interesting in rescuing the company but “this route was unfruitful”.
How much did In The Style owe?
According to FTS Recovery’s document filed with Companies House, In The Style has a total deficiency to its creditors of more than £21m.
As part of that, it owes HMRC just under £1.5m and almost 200 unsecured creditors over £4.5m.
It also has outstanding book debts of around £351,408.