Studio sold to Frasers Group for £1 and faced "considerable supply chain disruption"
According to filings made to Companies House by administrators Teneo, Studio Retail Group (SRG) "experienced considerable supply chain disruption during the six months to December 2021", with delayed stock causing a loss of sales during the peak Christmas trading period.
SRG was sold to Frasers Group on 25 February 2022. Studio owed more than £80 million when it first fell into administration and was later sold to Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group for just £1.
Frasers Group also acquired SRG's secured lenders' claims against it for approximately £26.8 million, which was previously quoted as the sales price Fraser Group paid for SRG.
In the filings Teneo stated: "Whilst stock was primarily sourced from Asia and committed on long lead times, SRG was unable to cancel late arriving stock which resulted in a sizeable stock 'overhand'. This combined with a reduction in Q4 sales, seasonal reduction in availability under the securitisation facility and the current level of overdue creditors, resulted in a significant funding shortfall."
Teneo outlined that when SRG entered administration it also owed around £1,100 to employees for holiday pay and pension contributions, with a further £4.7 million owed to HMRC.
