Beleaguered retail chain Paperchase which finally entered administration today had received no offers to take the business as a going concern despite a comprehensive sales process conducted by PwC. Trading at Paperchase had been badly impacted not just by the pre-Christmas postal strikes which made a huge dent in its sales of Christmas cards but also by the reduced footfall at railway stations where it has a number of stores usually kept busy with commuters and other travellers, but which were deserted during the series of rail strikes that have taken place.
Administrators at Begbies Traynor have sold the Paperchase IP to Tesco Stores Ltd., and have made 75 head office staff at Paperchase redundant with immediate effect.
Begbies Traynor has formed Aspen Phoenix Newco Ltd which trades as Paperchase with Mark Fry, Kirstie Provan and Gary Shankland as its joint administrators. This enables the short-term continuation of trading at all Paperchase stores with existing employees and the sale of all stock. It also says that gift cards will be honoured for the next two weeks.
Jan Marchant, managing director of home & clothing at Tesco said: “We have been building out plans to bring more brands and inspiration to the ranges we currently offer, and this will help us to take those plans further.”
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