Exclusive: Faith on the brink of administration

Faith, the 78-store footwear retailer, is set to appoint administrators as soon as this evening.

The retailer, which has £14m of debt, is understood to be on the verge of appointing Heath Sinclair at the firm Mazars as administrator.

News of the expected administration came as further details emerged about a purchase of the retailer's debt.

The restructuring specialist Hilco is thought to have bought out the debt of investors and lenders in Faith.

A deal on Faith's debt is believed to have been tied up by Hilco last night.

Hilco is understood to have purchased the debt of £14m that the bank Barclays, the investment fund Agilo and the management team led by John Kinnaird have in the retailer. Faith also has 120 concessions, which are mainly in the department store Debenhams.

The revelation of the deal comes as a group of major footwear suppliers are reported to have set the wheels in motion to collect stock from Faith’s shops and concessions business in Debenhams under retention of title rights. Grant Thornton has been running the sale of Faith, which made EBITDA of £1.5m in the year to January.

Today, Barclays, Grant Thornton, Hilco, Faith, Mazars and Agilo declined to comment.