Gifting retailer Icandy has entered administration and shuttered four of its 14 outlets as it seeks a buyer.

The specialist retailer has appointed FRP Advisory as administrators to help the struggling business find a buyer whilst its remaining ten stores and 79 employees continue to trade.

The retailer has closed four of its outlets as a result of the administration, resulting in 22 job losses.

According to The Times, the greeting cards and gifting retailer is thought to have unsecured liabilities of approximately £2m, £700,000 of which is provided by founder Clinton Lewin, son of the founder of Clinton Cards.

Lewin, who founded the retailer in 2012 after the demise of Clinton Cards, is the retailer’s largest unsecured creditor.

FRP Advisory joint administrator Glyn Mummery said: “After the demise of Clintons, his family gift card firm, Clinton Lewin took his experience and personal savings to help carve out a niche with Icandy’s innovative range of gifts across shops in the Southeast.

“Many of the Icandy stores continue to trade well from desirable locations in the more thriving market towns of Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk and they continue to capture the purses of shoppers looking to spend within the wider gifts market.”