Administrators who rescued a fashion retailer via a pre-pack administration have appointed CAPA to audit the business.
CAPA will be conducting a rates audit on stores in prime locations occupied by Leeds-based Khaadi Fashions, an Asian clothing retailer rescued from administration in September.
Khaadi Fashions had been operating from 10 stores around the country, including sites within London’s two Westfield shopping centres, along with city centre outlets in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds.
Due to poor-performing stores that were opened in 2018, compounded by high rent costs and deteriorating market conditions in the retail sector, Khaadi Fashions incurred losses throughout 2018 and the first half of 2019.
After it became clear that other restructuring options were not viable, the business entered insolvency. Keith Marshall and Gareth Harris, of business advisory and restructuring firm RSM, were appointed joint administrators on September 19 2019. Immediately upon their appointment, RSM sold most of the retailer’s stores and its business assets via a pre-pack sale to a new owner, Weaves UK Trading, thereby saving the majority of 100 jobs across the company.
RSM has now instructed CAPA to conduct the rates audits across all 10 of Khaadi Fashion’s trading premises. It means CAPA’s Audit team will use bespoke software to conduct a forensic analysis of all data on business rates paid to local authorities at every property.
The team will seek to identify any errors or anomalies, before recovering any overpaid sums for the creditors of Khaadi Fashions.
