Online luxury retailer Matches – formerly Matchesfashion – is said to have laid off 273 of its employees after hiring restructuring company Teneo to manage the administrative process.
According to the news magazine Drapers, which first reported on the layoffs, the areas affected include purchasing, communications, analytics and marketing.
The media portal reported that the decision came a day after Teneo was appointed as administrator by Matches’ new owner, Frasers Group.
“Like many luxury fashion retailers, Matchesfashion has experienced a sharp decline in demand over the last year, reflecting well-publicized pressures on discretionary spending as a result of high inflation and high interest rates,” Benji Dymant, joint administrator at Teneo, told Drapers.
“Since Frasers’ acquisition of Matchesfashion in December 2023 and an additional cash injection, the business has continued to deteriorate, which has increased the company’s funding needs. This ultimately led to management making the difficult decision to place the company into administration.”
In addition, Frasers noted that Matches “has consistently failed to meet its business objectives and (…) has continued to make significant losses.”
Frasers had acquired Matches in a £52m deal from Apax Partners, which had paid £800m for the company just six years earlier.