Debenhams collapse left unsecured creditors with £1.3bn losses

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jun 21, 2023

It’s been a tough month for unsecured creditors of failed retail companies. But money owed by the failed Hunter Boot company (£112.8 million) and Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group (£167 million) are dwarfed by the cost of Debenhams’ failure: £1.3 billion.

Documents seen by the Times newspaper show suppliers, landlords and lenders will recover none of the massive amount owed before the company thre in the towel.

The British department stores group went into liquidation in December 2020, and a progress report from liquidator AlixPartners revealed that after the failure of what was once the leading name in UK department stores, there were no funds available for its unsecured creditors.

The debt included over half a billion pounds for the company’s revolving credit facility and unsecured loans. There's no indication in the report of exactly how the remainder of the debt is broken down.

The centuries-old business had been in administration since April 2019 before finally going into liquidation on December 1 2020, affecting 12,000 jobs in 124 UK stores. The Debenhams brand was bought by Boohoo Group and its store chain was shuttered. It's now a digital department store.