AROUND 1,400 jobs have been threatened as online retailer Studio Retail has formally appointed administrators.

The value retailer, whose largest shareholder is Mike Ashley's Frasers Group, has formally appointed Teneo as administrators, The Times newspaper reported yesterday.

Studio suspended its shares last week and said HSBC rejected its request for a short-term £25m working capital loan.

The Accrington-based firm said the loan would have been used to fund surplus and the £25m sum would have been "sufficient to enable it to sell through the stock to customers".

In a trading update last month, Studio Retail said its adjusted pre-tax profits for the full financial year were expected to be well below previous market expectations of £35m.

Shares took a hit to the tune of more than 35 per cent following the January update.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) said it was seeking urgent meetings with management after Studio announced an intention to appoint an administrator earlier this month.

Usdaw area organiser, Julia Baldwin, said: "This is obviously very worrying news for our members."

"Our priority is to secure jobs and we are providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need at this difficult time," she added.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper