Handbag brand Radley to disappear from UK high street’s

It comes as the British retailer has been sold to the owners of Poundland, the Gordon Brothers, as part of a pre-pack administration.

The deal includes Radley’s brand and intellectual property assets, but not its stores, according to FTI Consulting.

It’s understood that the deal will result in 21 store closures across the UK in the coming week and the axing of 42 jobs.

Radley to disappear from the UK high street

Administrators, FTI Consulting, said that all Radley stores will remain open for 14 weeks to clear stock.

A statement from FTI Consulting shared, “The administration appointment follows a sustained period of challenging economic conditions for the retail environment, including declining customer demand and increasing operating costs, all of which have had a negative impact on trading.”

The handbag brand was founded in Camden Market in 1998 by Australian designer Lowell Harder.

Since its humble beginnings, Radley now has 21 stores and is stocked in M&S, Next and John Lewis.

UK High Street Shops That No Longer Exist

The brand was put up for sale by private equity owner Freshstream earlier this year after it brought Radley in 2016.

It was revealed that Radley had a pre-tax loss of £2.2 million in the 2024/2025 financial year, seeing sales fall to £65.8 million from £72 million.

It’s not just the UK side of the business that has been impacted, with the retailer also surrending it’s leases for its three US outlet stores in Orlando, Desert Hills and Las Vegas.

What does going into administration mean?

Going into administration means a company is not able to meet its expenses, debt obligations or other liabilities, according to SquareUp.com.

The Government website adds: “When a company goes into administration, they have entered a legal process (under the Insolvency Act 1986) with the aim of achieving one of the statutory objectives of an administration. This may be to rescue a viable business that is insolvent due to cashflow problems.

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“An appointment of an administrator (a licensed insolvency practitioner) will be made by directors, a creditor or the court to fulfil the administration process.”

A company going into administration gives it “breathing space” that frees a company from creditor enforcement actions” and allows for financial restructuring plans to be drawn up.

This could take the form of a sale to another company but if it cannot be reasonably saved, the administrator will aim to achieve a better return for creditors than would be likely if the company were wound up.

Will you miss seeing Radley on the high street? Let us know in the comments.