Several interested parties are considering whether to buy upmarket etailer Mahabis following its collapse into administration at the end of last month.

There may be a deal within “a couple of weeks rather than a couple of months”, according to administrator KRE partner Gareth Roberts.

He told Retail Week: “There’s been two main categories showing interest – the big trade players and a few smaller names, and then venture capital types.”

The upmarket slipper specialist, launched in 2014 by entrepreneur Ankur Shah, had been seen as a rising retail star and epitomised a new generation of brands selling direct to consumers.

Shah once said Mahabis had the potential to be “the Nike of downtime”, and at the height of its success the etailer was said to have been valued at as much as £100m.

Mahabis, which made extensive use of pop-up advertising, is understood to have allowed marketing costs to spiral out of control, contributing to its demise.

The etailer is understood to have unsuccessfully sought additional investment in the autumn of last year.