Quiz collapses into administration with over 100 jobs to be lost

The retailer currently has 40 stores across the UK and seven concessions in the Republic of Ireland, which will all continue to trade. The retailer’s ecommerce website, however, will be closed with immediate effect. 

While the administrators said the “majority” of the retailer’s 565 staff would be retained to help it trade through the business, it confirmed 109 staff have been made redundant across Quiz’s head office and online distribution centre. 

Interpath said that over the last year, Quiz had “experienced challenging trading conditions” and despite reporting stronger than expected sales through to the end of September 2025, a disappointing Christmas period was the final straw. 

It added: “The directors worked tirelessly to explore options to safeguard the future of Quiz, including efforts to source funding. However, with no solvent solutions available, they took the difficult decision to place these companies into insolvency.”

The partywear retailer becomes the latest high street casualty, following the dual insolvency announcements of Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop last week. 

Signs that Quiz were in trouble emerged at the end of January when the retailer appointed Interpath to advise on a fresh injection of cash to help stabilise the brand, following what it called a “disappointing” Christmas period.

The retailer blamed “Changing consumer habits, government Budget disruption around peak Black Friday trade, cost pressures from business rates and increases in national minimum wage and national insurance have proved challenging as widely reported across the retail sector” for its reversal in fortunes, after strong summer trading.

It’s been a dizzyingly fast collapse for Quiz, coming just months after the retailer said it had enjoyed a “strong start” to the festive trading period in November, with sales of its new partywear collection helping to boost sales.

In October last year, the retailer said it had plans to open up to 10 new retail outlets over the next 12 months, with a particular focus on London and the south of England.

The race to secure new financing came almost a year after Quiz’s founders, the Ramzan family, filed for insolvency, closing 23 of the brand’s shops before buying back the remaining assets as part of a pre-pack deal.

The retailer had warned this time last year that it would run out of cash in early 2025 after poor sales had meant the cash headroom available to the business was less than previously anticipated.

Alistair McAlinden, head of Interpath in Scotland and joint administrator, said: “With Quiz, the latest retailer to fall into administration, there’s no doubt it’s been a tough start to 2026 for the UK high street.

“It’s our intention to continue to trade all stores and the concessions in Ireland as a going concern for as long as we can while we assess options for the business. We are tremendously grateful for the support of Quiz’s employees and directors who will work alongside us as we trade the business over the coming weeks.”

Interpath managing director and joint administrator Geoff Jacobs added: “Any parties with an interest in acquiring the stock, store operations and infrastructure of Quiz should contact us as a matter of urgency. We are ensuring that those employees impacted by redundancy are provided with all available support at this difficult time.”

Quiz concessions which trade from New Look and Matalan stores in the UK are not part of the administration processes.