The second quarter of this year saw an eight per cent rise in the number of retailers plunged into administration compared with 2010, according to Deloitte. Forty three businesses were affected, with household names like Oddbins, Moben, Habitat and Jane Norman among the casualties.

High Street retailers were hit by a downturn in consumer spending and struggled to make ends meet and keep up their rent payments. Expensive overheads have taken their toll on bricks and mortar business, while online retailers like ASOS and Amazon have gone from strength to strength.

Lee Manning, restructuring partner at Deloitte said: “Whilst the overall increase in the number of retail failures this quarter is relatively small, we have seen a significant number of household names falling into administration, including Oddbins, Moben, Dolphin, Focus DIY, Habitat and Jane Norman.

“This signifies that the severity of retail distress is far greater than the absolute figures suggest.”

Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, bought the Habitat brand and three central London stores for £24.5m in cash. However, the 30 other outlets were not part of the deal.

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