The majority owners of footwear retailer Moda in Pelle have appointed advisers to “actively review the company’s financial position, including its solvency”, according to internal emails seen by Retail Week.
In a series of emails, dated April 29, 2026, two representatives of Moda in Pelle’s HR team said the business is “currently reviewing its financial position with external advisers”.
While the emails go on to say that Moda in Pelle is not “currently in a formal insolvency process”, they said “the directors are taking professional advice and are actively reviewing the company’s financial position, including its solvency”.
The emails also said: “The current uncertainty applies to all outstanding payments, including statutory redundancy pay, notice pay, and any accrued holiday pay.”
As a result, staff were fearful about not being paid. However, hours after Retail Week reached out to Moda in Pelle, it learned that affected staff have now been compensated.
Founder Stephen Buck told Retail Week: “I want to address this point directly because it’s the most serious one raised. All statutory payments owed to former employees, including notice pay, have been settled. I’m aware earlier HR correspondence caused concern for the individuals involved, and I’m sorry that was the case. The matter has been resolved.”
Redundancy rounds
The appointment of advisers and worries over liquidity follow what Retail Week understands to be three rounds of head office redundancies at the retailer, in December, January and April, resulting in at least 20 jobs being cut.
On December 18, 2026, GlobalTech Corporation – a US-based technology firm focused on AI and big data – announced it had taken a controlling 51% stake in holding company 123 Investments Limited d/b/a Moda in Pelle.
In one redundancy letter from April, shared with Retail Week, the business said: “We’ve been looking closely at the financial performance of the business and the need to ensure we are operating in a cost-effective and sustainable way. Like many businesses in the current retail environment, we are facing ongoing cost pressures, and it’s important that we align our structure and resources with the needs of the business going forward.
“This includes making sure we are managing our costs appropriately while focusing investment on the areas that will drive the most value.”
Buck said: “There have been some role changes at head office as we’ve reshaped the team around where the business is going. The clearest example of that direction is our investment in technology: we’ve taken our IT team from five people to 10 over the last three months.
“A significant driver of that hiring is the upcoming public release of our internally developed Buyers App – software we’ve used inside the business for many years, and which has been transformative for how we buy and merchandise. We’re preparing to make it available to the wider market in the near future, and we believe it has the potential to change how buyers operate well beyond UK retail.”
Buck also said that he resigned from Moda in Pelle’s operating company board on February 17 to “concentrate my time and effort on delivering the new software”.
Store closures
Retail Week also understands that Moda in Pelle has closed at least 16 stores since January of 2023, with the most recent one being its branch in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds on April 7, as was first reported by Leeds Live.
A notice in the store window said: “This store is now closed. For any returns, please visit the Moda in Pelle website.”
Buck said: “Like every UK retailer, we’re operating in a challenging cost environment – the increase to the national living wage, employer [national insurance contribution] changes and broader inflationary pressure mean any responsible multisite operator has to keep its store estate under continuous review. Where individual locations are no longer commercially viable, we’ve taken those decisions. That is portfolio discipline, not distress.
“Alongside that, we are in advanced discussions with several major national department store groups about further Moda in Pelle locations. We’re not naming the partners publicly at this stage, but we are actively expanding our concession footprint.”
The retailer was founded by Buck in 1975. It had several owners before being bought out of administration in a pre-pack deal by Buck in 2017, before he sold his majority stake to GlobalTech Corporation last year.
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