UK fashion store Quiz Clothing has fallen into administration, with professionals from Teneo handling the process. The news comes weeks after consultants from Interpath were tasked with advising the group’s leading lenders on its mounting crisis.

Chaired by former JD Sports Fashion boss Peter Cowgill, Quiz Clothing operates roughly 60 standalone stores and dozens more concessions, employing about 1,500 people across the UK. Amid a difficult retail environment in the UK, at the turn of the year, the group flagged up worries that it could not continue as a going concern.

At that point, it was reported that Quiz’s principal lender, HSBC, had hired Interpath to advise it on the situation. The firm then de-listed from the London Stock Exchange, and has now announced the appointment of new advisors to oversee its administration – after being unable to find a way forward.

The news will see the closure of 23 of Quiz’s shops, with about 200 employees expected to be made redundant. With insolvency practitioner Teneo stepping in as the administrator to Zandra Retail, which operates Quiz’s standalone stores in the UK and Ireland, they will look for buyers of the company’s remaining assets – though Quiz’s online business, concessions and international operations are operated by other group subsidiaries and are unaffected by this announcement.

Joint administrator Gavin Maher commented, “Although the sale has resulted in the transfer of a number of jobs, it has been necessary to make redundancies. We appreciate that this is a difficult and uncertain time for all involved and are communicating appropriately with all employees, customers and stakeholders.”