To alert you if you have anything ordered from Debenhams?

[safariboot]

Debenhams may be set to enter a 'pre pack administration'. If this happens, anyone who's ordered and paid for stuff (like furniture) and waiting for delivery faces getting neither the goods nor a refund! Just like happened with House of Fraser last year.

If I had any Debenhams orders, I'd be cancelling them tomorrow for a cash-in-hand refund if possible.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47841236

[Tomtontom]

This is bloody Mike Ashley's mess again. Every company he touches goes to crap, yet he keeps making millions.

I'm really sorry for what happens to the staff in these situations, but this is not going to change until we stop buying from his businesses.

[MzHz]

Hold on a sec, as much as I loathe MA as a person, he’s buying businesses that are at deaths door, and as far as I can see manages to structure or restructure to keep something of them going.

If not for him these retailers would for tits up sooner with total loss of workforce, nobody else is buying these businesses

If people are so worried about the high street, then stop buying from amazon!

It IS that simple.

[PigletJohn]

but surely if you paid by credit card, they will refund you.

[safariboot]

True. But of course a lot of people will have used debit cards or other payment methods.

[Justanotherlurker]

This is bloody Mike Ashley's mess again. Every company he touches goes to crap, yet he keeps making millions.

He gets into companies when they are already on their arse. For how shite he is, you cannot pin the problems of how he has made millions on him and not the general trend of the high street dying and him picking up the odd piece here and there.

[RB68]

Debs have been strugging for years. It doesn't quit work at the moement - so what you are saying is not unreasonable but you can't shoot the troubleshooter - try previous head in the sand management if you want a culprit

[Justanotherlurker]

Hold on a sec, as much as I loathe MA as a person, he’s buying businesses that are at deaths door, and as far as I can see manages to structure or restructure to keep something of them going.

He is, it's just people being ill-informed only by headlines and going along with an overall agenda/narrative fed to them.

The underlying situations is glossed over or just put down to partisan politics, and unironically call out anyone with a differing agenda as falling for propaganda. 21st century news/politics in a nut shell.

[JaneEyre07]

I'm not shocked. Their online shopping is very poor and our local store hasn't had a refurb since 1972. And it shows.

I've not shopped there for years for those reasons alone.

[Serin]

Thank you for that, I have a gift card, will try to get to a branch to spend it tomorrow .

[ANiceLuxury]

I love Debenhams and will be very sad if it goes.

A lot of my kids clothes are from there, all my perfume and make up is from there too

[Absolutepowercorrupts]

It's worth looking into what 'Pre pack administration' actually means before decrying or praising Mike Ashley
It's an insolvency procedure where a company arranges to sell it's business to a buyer before appointing administrators to facilitate the sale.
So the business is sold before the owner is declared bankrupt and legally clear to start again.

[PickAChew]

I don't think Ashley has long term rescue in mind, with these companies. He might seem like a hero but I think his long term aim is picking them over and making space for his own brands.

If he ever tries to get his mitts on John Lewis, I think the high street will be officially classified as dead, mind.

[Justanotherlurker]

It's worth looking into what 'Pre pack administration' actually means before decrying or praising Mike Ashley

No one is praising Mike Ashley, they are calling out those who are trying to pin it on him because they have had their opinion formed by news articles.

He's a shit there is no doubt, but debenhams isn't in shit because of him.

[Justanotherlurker]

If he ever tries to get his mitts on John Lewis, I think the high street will be officially classified as dead, mind.

If he gets to the point of sniffing round John Lewis it's because John Lewis is already down the pan, a lot of people gloass over how these same companies who are somehow cherished became so large in the first place.

It's a convenient bogey man

[unicornstore]

Thank you for this!! I tried on two dresses in Debenhams the other day and was thinking of ordering them (they didn't have a size 6 in store).
I can't afford to not get my money back!

[Lucked]

But it is a helpful warning to people. House of Fraser was a pre pack deal but he let it go to administration first and lots of people lost out. This is probably the plan with Debenhams as I am sure he doesn’t want the pensions etc to deal with.

[BrightYellowDaffodil]

I love Debenhams and will be very sad if it goes.

If it’s a pre-pack, they won’t ‘go’. The whole point of this sort of insolvency arrangement is that the company and its assets are sold on at the point of entering administration, thus ensuring the company's survival, and protecting jobs etc.

And a company that enters administration doesn’t automatically cease to exist, it’s the equivalent of being on hold until those who have temporarily taken over the running of the company (the administrators) decide what’s best to do with it: turn it round and send it on its merry way as a now-solvent company, sell some or all of it on as a going concern, or wind the company up so it ceases to exist. A pre-pack is a form of the second option.

[WatershedMoment]

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/07/mike-ashley-sports-direct-owner-politicians
"Mike Ashley has pocketed millions from treating people like battery hens". He's vile.

[pelirocco123]

A pre pack administration is basically used to buy the asserts of an insolvent company and then carry on trading without having to pay the existing debts .mainly used by the owners of the business as a life line to carry on trading .Although they wont be paying the debts the company accrued , buying the assets and goodwill can be pretty costly.
A previous poster mentioned it's used before the previous owner goes bankrupt , this is untrue , shareholders ( owners ) of a limited company are not liable for the company's debt, unless of course they have signed personal guarantees and can't pay them

[JaniceBattersby]

I suspect Ashley’s long game is to buy these companies on the brink of administration for very cheap prices because some of their real estate is in key locations in city centres and would be worth hundreds of millions if sold off. I a, suspicious of the man because I don’t believe he gives a shit about people (due to his previous business practises), just money.

I am concerned about pension holders who will more than likely lose out under pre-pack administration.

[MzHz]

Most of the stores will be leased, it’s not the property per se.

It’s possibly the brands, databases, or straight up stock and asset stripping

[CatCatDog]

Updates
Debenhams on brink of administration 2 hours ago
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47864211

Debenhams falls into hands of lenders 20 minutes ago
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47864580

[PigletJohn]

It is reported in the FT that the administrators "immediately sold its operating subsidiaries to a new company controlled by its lenders" and that "stakeholders such as staff, suppliers, landlords and pension scheme members will be unaffected, Debenhams said, because the subsidiaries would continue to trade."

www.ft.com/content/1e8329ee-5a8d-11e9-9dde-7aedca0a081a

Shares will be cancelled tomorrow and I presume shareholders will get nothing. They were last traded at 1.83p

[ForalltheSaints]

Whilst I feel for anyone who loses their job at Debenhams as a result of the store closures, I am pleased that Mike Ashley will not be taking over. If the allegations about staff on zero hours contracts and the Shirebrook warehouse of Sports Direct are even half true, then his non-involvement is a good thing.

[RomanyQueen1]

I've got a gift card, hope I manage to spend it in time, must go tomorrow.