A group of footwear suppliers are considering legal action to recover full payment for stock delivered to Stead & Simpson before it was sold in a pre-pack administration deal to rival Shoe Zone last month.

About 10 suppliers, which are understood to be owed between£2 million and£3 million, are considering instructing a solicitor to approach Stead & Simpson’s administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Earlier this month, Leicester supplier Now Shoes was forced into administration because it was owedÂŁ650,000, while another supplier is understood to be owedÂŁ1.2 million.

Some suppliers questioned why Stead & Simpson continued to accept deliveries shortly before the retailer was placed into administration. One supplier said: “Companies just can’t carry out due diligence in half an hour.”

A PricewaterhouseCoopers spokeswoman said the sale was transparent, but could not comment on the suppliers’ action until it had been contacted by a solicitor.

Shoe Zone, which last year bought Shoefayre, bought Stead & Simpson at the end of January. The old Stead & Simpson management have since left the business. Stead & Simpson’s brands include Shoe Express and Peter Briggs and the business was put up for sale last year.

Separately, Shoe Zone is understood to be in the process of making a substantial number of Stead & Simpson head office staff redundant and will close further stores.

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