The Original Factory Shop chair has said he was left with “no choice” but to put the business into administration after talks with prospective buyers for the brand collapsed, Retail Week can reveal.
In a recording of an internal call between TOFS staff and chair Milton Guffogg heard by Retail Week, Guffogg told staff he was left with “no choice but to put the business into administration” after eleventh-hour rescue talks for the brand collapsed.
TOFS owner Modella Capital had been running a sales process since filing a notice to appoint administrators (NOI) earlier this month. Retail Week can reveal that Modella, which also owns TGJones and Hobbycraft, had approached The Range owner CDS Superstores to take on the business.
Guffogg told staff: “As you know, we have been going through a sales process, and that’s why we extended the NOI.
“A number of parties were interested, and we gave them a bit more time. For different reasons, those parties have fallen away or have made the time limit on it.”
He went on to say that: “By putting it into admin, it doesn’t mean that parties will not pick the business up out of administration, but it doesn’t give any guarantees that they’ll do that. I was really left with no choice.”
Guffogg confirmed on the call that the retailer’s stores will continue to trade through the administration process, which was confirmed on January 28.
Rick Harrison and James Clark from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to the business.
TOFS currently operates 137 stores across the UK and employs some 1,180 staff. While it has been confirmed that these stores will continue to trade throughout the administration, TOFS’ online business will be closed with immediate effect.
The retailer blamed “challenging trading conditions, driven by high cost inflation, fragile consumer confidence and government policies which have led to significant increases in employment costs.
“This was exacerbated by issues with the company’s third-party warehouse and logistics operator, which significantly impacted sales”.
A spokesperson from Modella said: “This has been a very tough decision. We have worked intensively in an effort to save the business, but it is now clear that The Original Factory Shop doesn’t have a realistic possibility of trading profitably again. In these circumstances administration is the only option.
”The legacy effects of trading prior to our ownership left them highly vulnerable. A combination of very weak consumer confidence, highly adverse Government fiscal policies and continued cost inflation is causing many established and much-loved businesses to suffer badly.”
Interpath managing director Rick Harrison said: “The Original Factory Shop has long-been a cornerstone of local high streets up and down the country. Unfortunately, however, trading challenges have impacted the business such that the Company had to be placed into administration.
“Over the coming weeks, we will be working closely with TOFS dedicated team of employees as we endeavour to operate all stores as a going concern while we assess options for the business.”
Modella acquired the discount chain and 180 of its stores in February 2025. It drafted in advisers at Interpath shortly after to explore options for the business, including a company voluntary arrangement.
Modella said at the start of the year that the company did not have a “realistic possibility of trading profitability again”, despite its “last-ditch attempt to rescue” it.
It is the second time this week that a high street retailer has collapsed into administration, after another Modella Capital-owned brand, Claire’s, filed for insolvency on Monday (January 26).
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