Paperchase hunts for buyer but prepares for insolvency

High Street stationery chain Paperchase has lined up administrators and put itself up for sale.

The firm said it has a number of buyers interested in the business but was also talking to the insolvency experts Begbies Traynor about options for its future.

Paperchase was only recently sold to a consortium led by retail investor Steve Curtis.

Another investor group had bought it out of administration in January 2021.

The chain, which is 50 years old, has 106 stores in the UK and Ireland and 820 staff.

Paperchase confirmed that it had hired Begbies Traynor and consultants PwC to advise it after Sky News first reported the story.

Begbies is being lined up in case the firm goes bust, and PwC is handling the sale of the business, a source told the BBC.

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"Talks are continuing with a number of interested parties," the firm said in a statement.

"All Paperchase stores and the website will continue to trade as normal during this period."

Paperchase has had a challenging couple of years. In 2021 it was bought out of administration in a deal which rescued 90 of its then-127 stores, with 500 of its 1,500 employees losing their jobs.

At the time, the firm said its trade had slumped due to coronavirus lockdowns.

Last August the chain was taken over by Steve Curtis, a retail investor and chairman of investment vehicle Quilam Capital.

Mr Curtis is also chairman of clothing shop Jigsaw, which again struggled during the pandemic.