Laura Ashley has been rescued from administration by Gordon Brothers, which has acquired the global brand, archives and related intellectual property.

The global advisory, restructuring and investment firm stated that it intends to “place a strong emphasis on building e-commerce, developing more strategic wholesale relationships, and expanding the portfolio of licensees and franchisees globally”.

A statement added that it is also considering retaining a streamlined portfolio of Laura Ashley retail stores within the UK and Ireland.

Earlier this month, Laura Ashley appointed PwC as administrators after failing to secure emergency funding amid Coronavirus-related trading concerns. This resulted in 268 staff across head office and back-office roles being made redundant, with 1,669 store employees furloughed due to the lockdown.

Rob Lewis, joint administrator of the Laura Ashley group companies in the UK, said: “Whilst we have taken an important step forward in securing the sale of the brand, we continue to explore opportunities to reshape the UK store-based retail and manufacturing businesses and are very grateful for the efforts of the entire team at Laura Ashley in helping us with those discussions."

Ramez Toubassy, president of Gordon Brothers, added: “We feel humbled and inspired by the responsibility to reignite Mrs Ashley’s original vision while delivering unique and contemporary products to both long-time followers and new customers from around the world.”

Share Story: