192-year-old Scottish fashion chain collapsed into administration owing £46m

File image of a person carrying shopping bags (Image: Archive)

A HISTORIC Scottish fashion chain collapsed into administration owing £46 million, it has emerged.

M&Co, which was founded in Paisley in 1834, fell into administration in 2023.

All 168 stores were forced to shut, resulting in 1800 jobs axed.

M&Co (Image: NQ)

The Daily Record now reports that documents lodged by administrators at Teneo Financial Advisory Limited said that more than 600 unsecured creditors are set to lose more than £33m.

Meanwhile, the total amount owed is said to be more than £46m.

The case moved from administration to dissolution in June 2026.

This means that the fashion firm will officially be dissolved in September, three months on.

Administrators at Teneo said: "We adjudicated all claims received and subsequently admitted 608 claims for a total of £34m for dividend purposes, compared with £41m in the directors' statement of affairs.

“The maximum prescribed part fund of £800,000 was distributed on March 9, 2026 to non-preferential unsecured creditors, representing a dividend rate of 2.32p in the pound.

“Insufficient funds were realised to enable a dividend to be paid to non-preferential unsecured creditors, other than via the prescribed part distribution referred to above.”

Regarding the pension fund, administrators said: “No further distributions have been made to the pension scheme following holdings' payment of the outstanding pension scheme debt in August 2024 and its security has been satisfied.

"Holdings has not been repaid in full in respect of its floating charge security during the administration."

M&Co had £12m in overdue supplier payments by November 2022, which led to its winding up petition.

A total of £3.3m debt was paid to secured creditor HUK, as well as £8.7m to HSBC and £2.6m to HMRC.

Administrators also had to make "ransom" payments to selected third-party creditors whose supplies were "considered to be critical to trading strategy, to ensure services were not discontinued".

This came to a total of £196k.

M&Co "suffered as a result of drawn-out recovery in retail sales in the post pandemic period", administrators said.