LK Bennett has been purchased by Rebecca Feng, who runs the fashion retailer’s Chinese franchise business, after going into administration in early March.

The purchase of LK Bennett was completed overnight by Byland UK, a newly incorporated company owned by Feng. 

Byland worked with former LK Bennett chief executive Darren Topp and former finance director Andrew Ellis to assist with its bid. 

In a statement made this morning, LK Bennett’s administrators EY confirmed the completion of the sale of the majority of the business and assets of the retailer to Byland for an “undisclosed sum”. 

LK Bennett’s headquarters, 21 stores, all of its concessions and 325 employees have transferred across to Byland in the purchase. 

15 stores have not been included in the sale and, as a result, EY said that “around 110 employees” would be made redundant. 

The administrators confirmed that LK Bennett’s international arm “are not included in the sale and will remain in administration”. 

Joint administrator at EY, Dan Hurd said: â€œWith an established, luxury UK brand, the Company received offers from a number of parties. We are pleased that we have completed a sale to Byland UK Limited, preserving the jobs of 325 employees across 21 stores, and that the business continued to trade through the Administration process, helping to provide continuity of service for its loyal customer base.”

The high street womenswear brand, which has 480 employees and a 39-strong UK store estate, collapsed into administration on March 7. It has since made 55 redundancies and closed five stores including in Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre, Bristol, Liverpool, and Brent Cross and Westbourne Grove in London.

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