Around 700 jobs are at risk after Made.com revealed it will appoint administrators after failing to secure a rescue deal.
Made.com Design Ltd (MDL), the company’s operating arm, has filed a notice to appoint administrators, with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) lined up, while shares in the London-listed group have been suspended.
Made.com has 10 days before administrators are formally appointed and is considering last-minute options to avoid collapse, including a possible partial sale – such as a move to offload the Made brand.
The company employs approximately 700 people, but it is already in the process of laying off approximately one-third of its workforce in order to cut costs in the face of trading difficulties.
It has offices in London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, China and Vietnam.
The move to line up administrators comes after the company recently halted orders to new customers after abandoning hopes of getting a buyer to save it and inject the cash needed to stay afloat.
But it said there were still hopes of securing a deal, given that it received proposals from interested suitors during the aborted month-long sale process.
It said: “During the strategic review process, Made received proposals from interested parties to acquire certain of or substantially all of MDL’s trade, assets and brands.
“Any such sale of MDL’s trade, assets and brands would at this stage be effected by administrators of MDL following their appointment.”
“There can be no certainty that any such sale will proceed or as to the terms or timing of any such sale.”
It stated that shares in Made.com will be suspended, and that the board “currently expects that, in due course, the listing of the company’s ordinary shares will be cancelled, any residual value will be distributed to the company’s shareholders, and the company will be wound up.”
Customers are not able to receive refunds or cancel outstanding orders, but the firm said it is working with suppliers to process current orders.
Made.com has been hammered by a slump in consumer spending as well as supply chain disruption.
In recent months, the company warned it would need £70 million in funding to secure its future over the next 18 months and its share price has been decimated amid the woes.
It comes less than two years after Made.com went public on the stock market with a £775 million valuation.
In recent weeks, the group’s value has dropped below £2 million.