LK Bennett, the high-end fashion retailer, has called in administrators.
The firm, which has 39 shops including stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh and around 500 staff across the UK, signalled last month it was facing difficulties.
EY was lined up as administrator if it could not find fresh financing at that stage, it is reported.
The company was founded by Linda Bennett in 1990 and in its first 15 years it had annual sales of £50 million.
The firm's website put up a notice indicating it had stopped taking orders.
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Dan Hurd, EY joint administrator, was quoted as saying that amid "tough trading conditions" for retailers, LK Bennett had been "further impacted by significant rent increases and business rate rises".
He said: "Linda and the management team therefore made the difficult decision to place the company into administration, to protect the future of the business."
The company had been put up for sale and the administrators hoped it would be "attractive to prospective buyers".
Thousands of staff at motor insurer Admiral have been handed bonuses worth £3,600 each as the firm enjoyed record full-year profits.
A total of 10,000 staff were handed the share award under a bonus scheme linked to Admiral's performance.
Boss David Stevens said: "Mostly happy staff, mostly happy customers, and increased dividends - something for everyone."
It came as Admiral posted record full-year profits, driven by strong growth in customer numbers.
READ MORE: Boardroom handover at Edinburgh CCTV camera firm IndigoVision comes as losses cut
Pre-tax profit at the group rose 18 per cent to £476.2 million in 2018, while turnover increased 11% to £3.28 billion.
Melrose Industries has tumbled deeper into the red with pre-tax losses of £550 million after hefty costs linked to its controversial £8 billion hostile takeover of engineering giant GKN.
The result compares with losses of £28m in 2017.
But the turnaround specialist said with costs of the GKN deal stripped out, underlying pre-tax profits surged to £703m from £258m the previous year.
READ MORE: John Lewis staff bonus cut as operating profits drop 56%
Melrose said while it expects "wider macro challenges" to continue into 2019, it remains "confident of further success" in 2019.
Justin Dowley, chairman of Melrose, said: "This has been a transformational year for Melrose."
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