Store closures update: Retailer M&Co fell into administration with £46million in debt and 1,800 jobs cut

Retailer M&Co; was a pillar of Britain's high streets for years before being forced to close stores after filing for administration

Retailer M&Co was a pillar of Britain's high streets for years before being forced to close stores after filing for administration

New documents have laid bare the full extent of M&Co's administration, revealing that the historic retailer owed in excess of £46million when it collapsed with the loss of 1,800 jobs.

Every one of the chain's 168 shops was shuttered as the business fell into administration in 2022. The papers disclose for the first time the sequence of events that led to the failure of a company with roots stretching back nearly two centuries.

M&Co began life in Paisley in 1834 as a pawnbroker, later transitioning into retail in 1953 under the Mackays name, steered by family owners Len and Ian McGeoch.

More than 600 unsecured creditors now stand to lose upwards of £33million as a result of the collapse.

Adele Macleod, Gavin Park and Robert Harding from restructuring firm Teneo were appointed as joint administrators, marking the second time the company had entered such proceedings.

The retailer had previously been placed into administration during the pandemic, a process that resulted in the closure of 47 branches and the loss of 380 positions.

On that occasion, the McGeoch family purchased the assets back, but the reprieve proved short-lived as administrators were called in once more in 2022.

Peterborough-based AK Retail Holdings, the parent company of Yours Clothing, subsequently snapped up the M&Co brand along with its online operations.

The purchase price, revealed publicly for the first time in the newly lodged papers uncovered by The Herald, was £2.5 million.

Teneo's administrators assessed all submitted claims, ultimately accepting 608 for a combined value of £34million, compared with the £41 million figure set out in the directors' own statement of affairs.

A prescribed part fund totalling £800,000 was paid out to non-preferential unsecured creditors on March 9, 2026, amounting to a return of just 2.32p for every pound owed.

In their report, the administrators stated: "Insufficient funds were realised to enable a dividend to be paid to non-preferential unsecured creditors, other than via the prescribed part distribution referred to above."

Beyond that payout, creditors will receive nothing further, meaning the vast majority of the £33million-plus owed to them has been permanently lost.

The newly lodged documents confirm that the case formally transitioned from administration to dissolution in June, bringing the proceedings to a close.

Regarding the pension scheme, the administrators noted: "No further distributions have been made to the pension scheme following Holdings' payment of the outstanding pension scheme debt in August 2024 and its security has been satisfied."

Holdings settled its obligations to the pension fund two years ago, resolving that element of the collapse.