Administrators have said 87 UK jobs have been saved at online fashion retailer In The Style after it was acquired out of administration.
The digital womenswear fashion brand, based in Salford, entered administration on 10th March after celebrities had taken to Instagram to say they had not been paid in months.
FTS Recovery confirmed the details of the rescue – first reported on Thursday morning – to BusinessCloud in the afternoon.
They said the business has been sold to Alps Sourcing Limited in a pre-pack deal negotiated by administrators Marco Piacquadio and Alan Coleman.
Piacquadio, director at FTS Recovery, said: “The company’s balance sheet has been laden with significant debt for some time. That debt has led to issues with cash flow and had an impact on suppliers.
“Since being brought in to help, our focus has been to seek to rescue as many elements of the business as possible. It is always difficult trying to achieve a rescue against the backdrop of a relatively high-profile matter, particularly where elements of the brand and goodwill are under daily scrutiny.
“We are really pleased to have secured this outcome and to have rescued so many jobs.. It is hoped that this rescue will allow the new owners the platform to work again with key stakeholders in the future. This sale marks a turning point in the company’s fortunes and an opportunity to return it to a position of profitability and financial stability.”
In The Style floated in London in 2019 with a market value of £105m but by March 2023 its market cap had dropped below £1m and it was saved from administration when its only operating subsidiary In The Style Fashion Limited was acquired by family office Baaj Capital LLP for £1.2m.
Earlier in 2023 Adam Frisby, who founded the firm from his bedroom in 2013, won a High Court battle against businessman Paul Clements. The latter claimed he had come up with the concept and name for the company.
In The Style uses influencers to promote its products. Stacey Solomon and Gemma Atkinson are among those who have been on its books.
Late last month, Frisby responded to claims made by EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa that she has not been paid in months.
Jossa signed a promotional deal worth an estimated £1m in 2020. She was said to be consulting her lawyers over an unpaid ‘five-figure sum’.
The former I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here! winner told her 4m Instagram followers at the end of February that she “can’t get a response from anyone at the company”.
“My name and image is still being used all over the website, helping the brand to sell stock, yet I haven’t been paid for months,” she wrote.
“I see them signing up new faces and continuing to launch new collections and I feel it’s my responsibility to let the new girls know that their contract is unlikely to be honoured and they are unlikely to be paid.”
Frisby, who left his role as CEO of the online fashion retailer in September 2024, took to Instagram Stories to support Jossa and employees at the company – including two pregnant women, and several mothers – who he said were being sacked without pay.
Jossa was supported by former Geordie Shore regular Charlotte Crosby, who also took to Instagram Stores to vent her anger.