All Saints on brink of administration

The future of British fashion retailer All Saints hung in the balance

on Saturday after it emerged its management team has been given a deadline of Tuesday evening to finalise a rescue buy-out deal.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Lloyds Banking Group, the retailer's lender, provided Stephen Craig, chief executive, with the ultimatum over the weekend. Lloyds, which has lent £28.5m to the retailer, is believed to have asked KPMG, the accountancy firm, to be on standby to initiate administration proceedings as early as Wednesday morning.

The bank hired KPMG a number of weeks ago on what was originally a contingency basis, but its role has become increasingly key in the past week. Talks between bankers and advisers are set to continue today, and it is possible that the deadline may be extended.