THE future of Minehead’s M&Co store is in doubt after the shop chain with 170 outlets nationwide collapsed into administration, blaming a rise in costs and loss of consumer confidence.

Civic leaders called the possible closure of Minehead's last remaining department store “really bad news” and “a tragedy for the town” as customers reacted with shock and sadness.

The store in Park Street was continuing to trade this week as the administrators, Teneo Financial Advisory, looked for a buyer to take over the company.

If successful, M&Co could remain in business, but several of its stores -including one in Dorchester - have closed in the past week.

Teneo confirmed it had been called in as administrators and said: “Like many retailers, the company has experienced a sharp rise in its input costs which has coincided with a decline in consumer confidence leading to an increased pressure on cash flows and trading losses.

“No immediate redundancies have been made and the administrators are exploring a potential sale of the business in an accelerated timeframe, during which time the company will continue to trade from its stores and website.”

On Thursday it appeared to be business as usual in the Minehead store, but no-one was available for comment about the risk of closure.

But one staff member wrote on Facebook that they were hoping that the stores could be saved.

This is the second major financial crisis the company, which employs nearly 2,000 staff, has suffered in two years.

In 2020 it underwent “financial restructuring” which saw the chain being sold and immediately bought back by the McGeoch family which founded the company in Scotland in 1961. The deal resulted in 47 store closures and 380 redundancies.

What they're saying about the M&Co collapse: See this week's West Somerset Free Press for comment and reaction from Minehead