Following today’s news that Laura Ashley has filed for administration amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, Amy Higginbotham, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“Laura Ashley blames recent poor trading (at least in part) to the Covid-19 outbreak, and though this has no doubt had a significant impact on its performance over the past week or so, the retailer has been struggling for a while.

“The brand has long been tired and has struggled to regain relevance in both its fashion and home divisions. Financially weak retailers, of which there are many, are likely to follow Laura Ashley into administration given the current crisis. Those retailing non-essential purchases that can easily be deferred will be particularly badly hit.”