British fashion brands Oasis and Warehouse have fallen into administration, threatening over 2,000 jobs and joining a growing list of store groups pushed over the edge by the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. Deloitte, appointed as administrator to the Oasis Warehouse group owned by Icelandic bank Kaupthing on Wednesday, said that 202 of the retailers’ employees would be made redundant, 1,801 furloughed and 41 head office staff retained. The brands trade from 92 branches across the Oasis Warehouse group’s leasehold stores, with 437 concessions located in third party retailers.

Women's fashion retailers Oasis and Warehouse are expected to appoint administrators soon, putting about 2,300 jobs at risk, BBC News reported. The owner of the High Street brands, Icelandic bank Kaupthing, had been in talks to sell the businesses before the coronavirus crisis. However, the crisis, which has seen many shops temporarily close, has knocked the legs from under the sale. The fashion retailers are expected to appoint Deloitte as administrators.

British department store group Debenhams went into administration for the second time in 12 months on Thursday, seeking to protect itself from legal action by creditors during the coronavirus crisis that could have pushed it into liquidation, Reuters reported. With Britain in lockdown during the pandemic, Debenhams’ 142 UK stores are closed, while the majority of its 22,000 workers are being paid under the government’s furlough scheme. It continues to trade online.

Britain’s financial regulator has said the main objective of its response to the coronavirus pandemic — protecting consumers from harm — will remain its focus in 2021 and into “the medium term”.  In a shorter than usual business plan, published on Tuesday, the Financial Conduct Authority set out four priorities for the future that closely matched the relief measures it had announced in recent weeks, the Financial Times reported.

Business leaders in the North, including a former DUP economy minister, have warned the Northern Ireland Executive that small enterprises and start-ups are in danger of going to the wall because they cannot access any emergency Covid-19 funding, The Irish Times reported. Simon Hamilton, chief executive of Belfast Chamber, and 11 other business leaders, have written to the North’s economy minister to warn that in every sector in the North there are companies currently struggling to keep their doors open because they have fallen victim to a “funding gap”.

British department store chain Debenhams is preparing to enter administration for the second time in a year to protect the business from legal action from creditors during the coronavirus emergency that could have pushed it into liquidation, Reuters reported. The retailer said on Monday it had filed a notice of intent (NOI) to appoint an administrator. With Britain in lockdown during the pandemic, Debenhams’ 142 UK stores are currently closed, while the majority of its 22,000 workers are being paid under the government’s furlough scheme. It continues to trade online.

Arcadia, the fashion empire controlled by Philip Green and his family, is likely to close dozens more of its UK stores, with the coronavirus pandemic compounding already difficult trading conditions, the Financial Times reported. “No decisions have been made at this time,” said a spokesman for the company. But the terms of a rescue plan agreed with its creditors in June last year provided for the possible closure of many more stores than the 22 initially earmarked.

Around noon on Monday, just when customers might have been starting to sidle into Carluccio’s to order a plate of seafood linguine, the 29-year-old Italian restaurant chain went into administration, the Financial Times reported. It was the first major casualty of the coronavirus lockdown in a sector that has been struggling with some major problems for at least the past two years. Debt levels are high and there is too much competition after private equity piled into the “casual dining” market and encouraged expansion.

Debenhams’ owners have put restructuring firms on standby as they consider putting the struggling department store group into administration for the second time in a year, the Financial Times reported.

With the future of many coronavirus hit firms in their hands, British banks, still scarred by the financial crisis, are worried that they are being asked by a desperate government to make loans that will never be repaid, Reuters reported. This caution, combined with the challenges of an unprecedented demand for loans, is testing the British public’s fragile faith in the lenders, which have spent a decade trying to rebuild their battered reputations and capital positions.