CLOSING TIME
PAPERCHASE collapsed into administration today putting more than one hundred stores and jobs at risk.
The stationer initially announced that despite "best efforts" it received no viable offers from buyers.
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This puts the 106 stores at risk of closure as well as affects around 820 employees.
The administrators have confirmed this afternoon that 75 staff at the company's head office in London have been made redundant.
It came after reports that Paperchase was in talks to secure a pre-pack administration deal.
All stores are currently still open as normal, the administrators confirmed.
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Any shoppers with gift cards are being urged to redeem them as soon as possible as they won't be accepted after two weeks.
After Paperchase went into administration, Tesco confirmed it had bought the brand - but this does not necessarily mean the stores will be saved from closing.
A statement from the joint administrators said: "Unfortunately, despite a comprehensive sales process, no viable offers were received for the Company, or its business and assets, on a going concern basis.
"However, there has been significant interest in the Paperchase brand and attendant intellectual property.
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"This sale reflects the interest in the well-known and established brand and will enable the brand to continue in Tesco stores across the UK."
A "pre-pack administration" is an insolvency process for a business to sell its assets before appointing administrations.
It's a way of selling a business to a third-party buyer.
Paperchase has 134 branches, including standalone stores and others located in shops such as Next and Selfridges.
It also previously fell into administration two years ago, with the closure of 37 stores.
This is when all control is passed to an appointed administrator who has to be a licensed insolvency practitioner.
They will try to stop the company from being liquidated.
At the time, the chain had 1,500 employees.
Paperchase confirmed it was in talks with potential buyers earlier this month.
The stationary store first hit the high street back in 1968 and soon expanded its presence into Europe, the USA and the United Arab Emirates.
Paperchase also operates smaller concessions in selected Selfridges, House of Fraser and Next department stores.
The chain's first store was located in Kensington and back in 2010 the brand launched its online store.
More brands collapsed last year after losing the same battle plenty of retailers had been fighting amid the Covid pandemic.
From the Scottish clothing brand M&Co to wellies store Joules, a number of familiar brands went bust in 2022.
Here, The Sun has put together a full list of retailers that closed last year.
Major burger chain Byron Burger also recently fell into administration and is set to close nine restaurants immediately.
Further popular chains including Las Iguanas, Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia also fell victim to the pandemic.
In December 2022, pub chain Wetherspoons announced it would be closing a total of 39 pubs after being hit by soaring inflation.
You can see the full list of Paperchase stores below:
- Altrincham
- Arnotts
- Basingstoke
- Bath
- Battersea
- Belfast
- Berkhamsted
- Beverley
- Birmingham Grand Central
- Birmingham New St
- Birmingham Selfridges
- Bishopsgate
- Bishops Stortford
- Bluewater
- Bracknell
- Braehead
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Bromley
- Bury
- Bury St Edmunds
- Byres Road
- Cambridge
- Canterbury
- Cardiff St Davids
- Cheapside
- Chelmsford
- Cheshire Oaks
- Chester
- Chichester
- Chiswick
- Colchester
- Cribbs Causeway
- Derby
- Dundee
- Dundrum
- Durham
- Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Morningside
- Exeter
- Finchley Road
- Forestside
- Glasgow Buchanan
- Guernsey
- Guildford
- Harrogate
- Henley on Thames
- Hereford
- Hitchin
- Islington
- Jersey
- Kings Cross Station
- Kingston
- Lakeside
- Leamington Spa
- Leeds Commercial Street
- Leicester
- Lewes
- Lincoln
- London Bridge
- Maidstone
- Manchester
- Marble Arch
- Meadowhall
- Merry Hill
- Metro Centre
- Newbury
- Newcastle
- Next Aintree
- Next Birmingham Junction 9
- Next Bolton
- Next Bournemouth
- Next Camberley
- Next Crawley
- Next Enfield
- Next Gloucester
- Next Handforth Dean
- Next Hanley
- Next Ipswich
- Next Kirkcaldy
- Next London Colney
- Next Luton
- Next Maidstone
- Next Manchester Arndale
- Next Norwich
- Next Oxford Street
- Next Plymouth
- Next Selly Oak
- Next Shoreham
- Next Solihull
- Next Straiton
- Next Wolverhamptom
- Next York
- Northcote Road
- Nottingham
- Oxford
- Perth
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Putney
- Ringwood
- Rushdean Lakes
- Sailsbury
- Sevenoaks
- Sheffield
- Silverburn
- Solihull
- Southampton
- Staines
- St Albans
- St Andrews
- St Pancras Circle
- St Pancras Station
- Street Outlet
- Swindon
- Taunton
- Telford
- Trafford Centre Selfridges
- Tunbridge Wells
- Victoria Station
- Walton on Thames
- Wandsworth
- Wattington
- Waterloo Station
- Watford
- Whiteley Village
- White Rose Leeds
- Wimbledon
- Winchester
- Windsor
- Woking
- Worcester
- York
- York Outlet
What does going into administration mean?
When a company enters administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator - who has to be a licensed insolvency practitioner.
Their goal is to leverage the company's assets and business to repay creditors.
Once the administrator has taken over, a moratorium is placed around the company and stops all legal actions.
After the administrator takes over, there isn't much that can be done to reverse the process.
How does administration work?
The administrator will write to your creditors and Companies House to say they’ve been appointed.
They will try to stop the company from being liquidated but if they can't, the administrator will pay as much of a company's debts as possible from the assets.
The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do.
This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invites them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting.
Gift cards - your rights explained
When a company goes into administration, the people appointed to manage the process can decide whether to allow the use of gift cards or not.
It means you'll need to keep an eye on the administration process to see what your rights are.
The administrators are allowed to stop accepting gift cards at any point.
If the administrators later decide that you can't use your vouchers, you should register a claim with the administrators for the value of the vouchers.
This also applies if the company can't be saved through administration and is later liquidated.
However, you may not get this money back if other creditors are owed money too. You may also only get a portion of the money back.
If the voucher or amount put on a gift card was for more than £100, then it may be possible to claim the money back if it was purchased with a credit card.
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This is because the card company is jointly liable under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
If the voucher was a gift, then you'd need to ask the person who bought it for you to claim the money back.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]