As fashion retailer Internaçionale looks set to hit the buffers with Ernst & Young likely to be appointed administor, Retail Week takes a look into the business

  • The retailer, which is headquartered in Glasgow, sells women’s and girl’s fashion, accessories and footwear under both the Internaçionale and Sophie brands
  • It has 150 stores across the UK
  • Internaçionale previously fell into administration in 2008 alongside its sister firm homewares retailer Au Naturale. PwC was the administrator
  • In 2010, Raj Sehgal, the entrepreneur behind the Visage clothing empire who was a lead investor in Internaçionale, took the helm
  • The retailer his tried to up its fashion credentials of late in a bid to stem the dominance rival Primark. Sehgal told Retail Week last year: “With the emergence of Primark we had to change the product offer to make it more attractive. We don’t want to compete with them but we wanted a point of difference.” It drafted in a new buying director for non-clothing, former River Island buying director Rachel Stack
  • In its last reported financial statements, in the five months to December 2011, Internaçionale made a pre-tax profit of £2.2m against sales of £33.8m

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