1,200 jobs at risk as Supercuts goes into administration

It's less than a year after bosses attempted to persuade landlords to give the company heavy rent cuts.

The businesses have around 1,200 employees across 223 salons, including on in Carlisle, and it is thought that the sites will continue to trade while a potential buyer is sought.

Restructuring partners Rob Harding and Matt Cowlishaw at Deloitte have been appointed as administrators to salon owners Regis UK Limited and its holding company International Beauty Limited.

Deloitte said Regis UK will continue trading while options are being explored and no redundancies or store closures are being announced at this stage.

Supercuts has been struggling for the last few years and went through an insolvency process known as a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in 2018.

It meant the company could cut its rents in an attempt to stay afloat.

The CVA process has been widely used by several high street names in recent years, including Arcadia, New Look, Mothercare and Carpetright.

But it has faced criticism from some landlords who claim it is being used as a way to cut rents, instead of only being used to prevent a firm from collapsing.

Rob Harding, Deloitte joint administrator, said: "The retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging and Regis UK Limited had been seeking to address this through a restructuring of its business.

"Unfortunately, these trading challenges coupled with the uncertainty caused by the legal challenge to the CVA have necessitated the need for an administration appointment. This, in order to provide protection for the business whilst restructuring and sale options, are fully considered and explored."

Regis said at the time that a "perfect storm" of factors, including falling customer numbers and higher wages, had hurt the business.

The CVA saw rent cuts of up to 100 per cent at more than 100 of Regis's 223 stores and concessions.

Regis could not immediately be reached for comment.