Angry suppliers to Missguided weigh up legal action against ‘reckless’ owners

theguardian.com:

Suppliers to the collapsed fast fashion brand Missguided have filed an official complaint to the Insolvency Service and are considering legal action over what campaigners say was “a reckless approach” by the company’s private equity owners.

Missguided called in administrators from advisory firm Teneo on Monday after months of seeking new funds after a boom in sales of clothing online during the pandemic went into reverse when shops reopened. Britain’s fast fashion retailers have come under huge pressure from supply chain costs and delivery delays, while battling new entrants such as China’s Shein.

More than a dozen suppliers based in the UK, mostly in Leicester and Manchester, say they are collectively owed millions of pounds for orders, some of which were placed as late as last month with deliveries demanded even on Monday, the day Missguided went into administration.

The company continues to trade while a buyer is sought, but customers are complaining on social media that they have not received deliveries of orders and are still awaiting refunds.

Meanwhile, hundreds of UK factory workers are understood to have lost their jobs as garment makers struggle to find new business.

Campaigners said some Leicester factories are entirely reliant on business from Missguided, which was founded in 2009 by Nitin Passi. He left in April, a few months after private equity group Alteri bought a controlling stake and took seats on the board. Ian Gray, the former chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur football club and chairman of organic veg business Abel & Cole, was appointed executive chair of Missguided last month.

One supplier said he was considering legal action as he believed Missguided could have acted fraudulently if it continued to