Laura Ashley has announced the permanent closure of 70 stores, with 721 employees set to lose their jobs. It comes after the fashion and furnishings retailer slid into administration earlier this month, blaming the impact of coronavirus for tipping it over the edge.
It said it will continue to trade online and from its remaining 77 UK stores for the time being. The company had been desperately trying to unlock more money from one of its main lenders for weeks, after US bank Wells Fargo started to tighten its purse strings.
In February, it warned it needed £15million of emergency cash by the end of this month to avoid putting all jobs at risk. A statement said: "The company regrets to announce that the directors of the company, and of the