by John Prince
The discount clothing and homeware chain The Original Factory Shop – which has outlets in Withernsea and Hornsea – has gone into administration, leaving more than 1,000 employees nationally in doubt over their futures.
The discount retailer sells a wide range of clothing, footwear, home and electrical goods and kitchenware.
Modella Capital, which owns the company, has said it was entering into insolvency proceedings across the UK and Ireland in the hope of finding a new buyer. It said “tough trading conditions” and “alarmingly low” Christmas trading were to blame.
Modella also owns Claire’s Accessories, which it has announced has also gone into administration.
The Original Factory Shop employs 1,220 people across 140 shops.
In a statement, Modella said: “This has been a very tough decision. We have worked intensively in an effort to save both businesses, having made last-ditch attempts to rescue them, but neither has a realistic possibility of trading profitably again.”
Modella also said both companies had been in a vulnerable position even before it bought them.
It is yet another jobs blow for the high street as more and more shoppers go online. Retailers across the country have been through challenging times for a number of years, facing rising rental costs, high inflation and low customer confidence. Big-name established brands such as Woolworths, BHS and WHSmith have already famously disappeared from many towns and city centres.
No one from The Original Factory Shop was available for comment at the time of going to press.