Uniform manufacturer close to administration

Uniform manufacturer Alexandra is on the verge of going into administration after struggling to survive for more than a year, say reports.

The company, which is based in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire and employs 500 people, first reported troubles in summer 2009 when it encountered losses of £11 million for the first six months of the year. Since then, it has found it increasingly difficult to maintain repayments on bank loans.

Alexandra revealed that it has been desperately trying to arrange funding to guarantee its long-term future and there were also hopes that it would be bought by a competitor, but attempts to find a buyer proved fruitless. The firm suffered another blow last month when a deal to convert a factory in Scotland into a retail park fell through, leading to a 30 per cent drop in shares.

Last night an official statement was released by the company, suggesting that administration may be the next step. The statement to the Stock Exchange read, "The board of Alexandra announces that trading in shares of the company has been suspended with immediate effect. As announced on 30 June, following an unsolicited preliminary approach, the board suspended attempts to raise new equity to examine a possible sale of the company or its assets, in conjunction with its bankers.

"However, the company continues to experience significant working capital constraints and the board believes that the company no longer has sufficient funding to enable it to continue to trade on a going concern basis and so the company is taking steps to appoint an administrator.”

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