Message from Boudiche Founders, Clare and Fiona
Message from Founders, Clare Thommen and Fiona McLean.
Friday 11th June 2010
It’s with deepest frustration and sadness that Boudiche founders Clare and Fiona today had to today place Boudiche in Administration. We have been trying to raise finance for a number of weeks, but the pressure on cashflow became increasingly difficult, leading to the closure of the boutiques in Edinburgh and Glasgow this week and the appointment of RSM Tenon as Administrators.
Trading conditions through the retail stores have been difficult since the start of the Edinburgh Tramworks project hit footfall badly to the original Edinburgh boutique. Growth in the boutique prior to this had been over 70%. This happened around the same time as the Glasgow store opened, and the economic recession impacted consumer spending.
We want to thank our amazing team that made Boudiche what it is, for their dedication and passion over the last five years. They are as saddened as we are, Boudiche had become their baby too. We also want to thank all of our customers and fans of Boudiche that have taken Boudiche this far. Our almost 2000 Facebook fans, and Twitter followers. Our thanks go out to our loyal suppliers for their support over last five years, designers of the best lingerie brands in the world. Damaris, Julianne, Fleur of England, Pleasure State, Elle Macpherson Intimates, Miss Mandalay and all of our amazing brands Boudiche was lucky to be able to stock. And our thanks to a number of special people that helped us along the way, initially as advisors and many now close friends you know who you are.
There are too many amazing people that have supported us and Boudiche, to mention without risking missing anyone off, but thanks to all our supportive families, our Mums and Dads who helped us get here from tagging stock, to painting the boutique floors and sewing boudiche labels onto hangers. Our friends who all mucked in and helped us at over the years, getting launched and even hosting and serving drinks at our last Men Only night. We owe everyone a big thank you from bottom of our hearts.
A special thanks to the Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) who have supported us from day one, and been there at every step of the way. Without PSYBT many young people would never be given a chance to start in business.
It is with sincere regret that we were not able to raise Finance to prevent the business being placed in Administration. We are still in discussions with a number of investors about the potential to buy the business out of Administration, but at this stage nothing is agreed, and it is being handled by RSM Tenon.
For now, we need to say goodbye from Clare and Fiona, and the amazing Boudiche team that created something we still believe was, and is very special.
With deepest sadness,
Love
Clare and Fiona xxx
Official Release from Tenon below. Any queries in relation to creditor balance, customer gift vouchers or credit notes Tenon are dealing with, Alistair Mitchell can be contacted on Alistair . Mitchell @ rsmtenon.com. (no spaces). Direct dial 0131 221 8850.
BOUDICHE IN ADMINISTRATION
The directors of one of the UK’s leading quality lingerie retailers, fast-growing Edinburgh-based Boudiche, have placed the company in administration.
Launched in 2005 by Clare Thommen and Fiona McLean with a store in Edinburgh, the award-winning company then opened a second store in Glasgow’s merchant city in 2008, where turnover grew 9% last year. The company had also recently made a highly successful move into online retailing.
Turnover had grown from £68k in the first year to nearly £600k, with online sales rising an impressive 75% in the last year as demand for the company’s upmarket range of lingerie had attracted online sales from over 50 countries.
However, despite the success of the concept, and the growing profile of the brand, Boudiche’s two retail stores had been severely affected by the recession and contraction in high street spending. The Edinburgh store had also been badly affected by the Edinburgh tram works, with footfall falling an estimated 40%.
As such, the business was suffering serious cash flow problems and the directors requested the appointment of RSM Tenon as administrators, who are now marketing the brand and assets for sale.
Joint administrator Tom MacLennan, head of recovery at RSM Tenon in Scotland said: “Boudiche is a very high profile brand and was a rising star in the quality lingerie market, with the potential for further development, in particular the online business. The administration offers an exciting opportunity for an entrepreneur to acquire the brand and assets and develop the business. We would urge interested parties to make contact with us as soon as possible.”
Founding Director Clare Thommen said: “It is with deep regret that we have placed Boudiche into administration. Despite our best efforts and an extensive search for funding we were unable to secure the investment required to continue. We will continue to seek investment and hope to buy back the brand. In the meantime, we would like to thank everyone who has worked with us and helped us over the years.”
The administrators also announced that both stores have been closed, online trading has been suspended and all 13 staff (5 full-time, 8 part-time) have been made redundant with immediate effect.
