MORE than 1000 jobs are at risk after it was revealed that the shoe company Barratts have gone into administration.
According to a statement, Directors at the Bradford-based chain which has 15 shops in Ireland said they were left with no choice after an investor pulled out of a plan to inject £5m as the company sought to shore up its finances.
The company has shops in Cork, Newbridge, Athlone, Letterkenny, Killkenny, Carlow and several outlets in Dublin. It has a workforce of about 75 in its Irish shops.
The company also has 14 shops in the North.
Philip Duffy and David Whitehouse of financial advisory and investment banking firm Duff & Phelps were appointed administrators on Friday afternoon.
Barratts Shoes operates from 75 stores and 23 concessions across the UK and Ireland, employing 1,035 people, of whom 521 are part time, the statement said.
William Barratt started his mail order company in Northampton in 1903.
The company's Boots-by-Post service once boasted that it sold 'the World’s Best Brogues at Barratt's Factory Price'.
