Department store chain House of Fraser is to appoint administrators after giving up the fight to save the business.
In a statement, it said that talks with investors and creditors had “not concluded in a solvent solution”.
House of Fraser employs 17,500 people, including 11,500 concession staff.
Its fate was sealed earlier this month, when Chinese firm C.banner pulled out of a rescue deal that would have brought much-needed investment.
Yesterday House of Fraser told the Luxembourg stock exchange that “discussions continue” with potential investors.
The talks are “focused on concluding as quickly as possible to enable receipt of an investment required by no later than 20 August 2018”.
That is the date when the department store business needs to make payments to its concession customers.
However, an agreement could be reached far sooner than that.
House of Fraser employs 17,500 people – 6,000 directly and 11,500 concession staff.
In the statement in Luxembourg, where it has bond investors, House of Fraser said it would provide further updates “as and when appropriate”.
“House of Fraser thanks all of its employees, suppliers and other stakeholders for their ongoing support,” the statement said.
Yesterday we reported that House Of Fraser creditors were assessing three takeover bids from Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, Jaeger owner Philip Day and turnaround firm Alteri Investors, but it appears that those bids were not enough to get credit backing.
