More than 500 jobs are set to be lost at fashion chain Monsoon Accessorize.
The company has announced that it is closing 35 of its stores across the UK, with 545 staff to be made redundant.
The losses come despite Monsoon’s founder Peter Simon buying the business out of administration almost immediately.
His deal means that around 450 jobs will be transferred to another company he owns, Adena Brands.
Around £15 million will be injected into Monsoon Accessorize to allow the remaining stores to stay open.
Mr Simon says he hopes to save as many as 100 of the 162 remaining stores and 2,300 jobs.
He said: “Ever since I opened the first Monsoon store in Beauchamp Place in 1973, this business has been my passion and my life, and I did not want to see it fall victim to this unprecedented crisis.”
The firm had insisted a turnaround plan was going well after it negotiated a company voluntary arrangement with landlords.
However while the business was trying to heal, all of its stores were forced to close as Covid-19 hit the country.
“Both Monsoon and Accessorize were trading well before the coronavirus pandemic but the business simply could not withstand the financial impact of having to close all its UK, franchise and joint venture stores for almost three months,” Mr Simon said.
“This deal secures the future of both Monsoon and Accessorize and means we can continue to serve our customers online without a pause.
"In addition, we will now try to save as many of our stores as possible, depending on the outcome of various discussions with landlords.
"I would like to thank landlords for the helpfulness and enormous forbearance they have shown so far, which has enabled us to get to this point.”
Tony Wright, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said: “We had to move quickly and decisively to secure the future of Monsoon and Accessorize, as many jobs as possible and the presence of these two iconic brands on the UK high street.
“After assessing a range of options this deal achieves those goals with least disruption to the business in an already challenging retail environment.
“We are now committed to working with Adena Brands as they enter talks with landlords to agree future terms across their store portfolio and look to transfer more jobs to the buyer.
“We’ll also be working with the Redundancy Payments Service to support all affected employees through this difficult time.”
