The news doesn’t seem to get better for Quiz, the womenswear retailer that’s been struggling to ignite sales growth.

Earlier this month it announced ongoing lower sales with “a marked decline in traffic both online and in-store” recently. And now it has said that it’s planning to delist its shares from London’s Alternative Investment Market and go private.

The company, which is still battling to keep its head above water, will hold a shareholder vote on the move in January.

It’s perhaps no surprise give the cost of maintaining a listing on a major stock exchange. And with Quiz shares being priced at just 2.3p (compared to almost £2 each when they first listed back in 2017), the company’s total market value is just £2.82 million at present.

The business, which has 60 stores, said the delisting will “be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders”.

It already has commitments from key shareholders to vote in favour of the move. They include founder Tarak Ramzan and his family as well as major investors Tajveer and Amraj Gill. Given that the proposal requires 75% support to pass and they already control almost 67% of the shares between them, it looks likely to be approved.

Ramzan is also in talks to prove a £1 million loan to the embattled retailer.

The problems the company has encountered in recent years must be hugely disappointing to a business that looked to be on a post-pandemic recovery trajectory early last year. 

But as 2023 wore on, the performance declined and last Christmas plus this year offered no relief. That’s despite the firm opening new stores (such as a flagship at Manchester’s Trafford Centre, a new-concept store in Derby, and a bigger space in Craigavon).

Other boosters this year included Debenhams adding the label to its marketplace listing, and news that it had seen a more positive international performance. Non-UK revenues benefited from strength via its partners in the Middle East and the US. And it said the transfer of its largest International market to a new partner earlier in the year “resulted in increased revenues with the partner planning to open four new stores in the coming months to complement their existing 15 stores”.