Workwear supplier Alexandra has filed for administration yesterday after recent fundraising efforts were unsuccessful.
The company announced on 9 July that it no longer had sufficient funding to enable it to continue to trade.
Administrators said this was one of several issues faced by the company.
Alexandra, which supplies garments to the travel, hospitality, healthcare, industrial and retail industries, employs 484 people at locations including Thornbury, Bristol, Swindon, Langley, Edinburgh and Uddingston, near Glasgow.
Until recently, the directors of the company had been pursuing an equity fund raising process that was eventually abandoned.
Rob Lewis, Rob Hunt and Derek Howell of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were appointed joint administrators of the company.
They are seeking to sell the business as a going concern, and say discussions are underway with a number of interested parties.
The company’s subsidiaries are not currently subject to insolvency procedures, although their affairs are being reviewed by the administrators, a statement added.
These subsidiaries employ 174 full time equivalent staff in Morocco, seven in the UK, eight in Southern Ireland and eight in Holland.
Lewis said: "It is regrettable that the company was unable to complete the equity raising process. However, the Alexandra name is a strong one in the workwear market and the market share that the business has in the UK will make it an attractive prospect for interested parties.
"We are already in discussions with a significant number of interested parties, although inevitably those discussions will take some time to conclude."
Alexandra first started as a small shop in Bristol, in 1854. The company started to sell workwear in the 1950s and was first floated on the stock market in 1985.
Author: Graeme King
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