Jane Norman in administration

UP to 1,600 jobs are at risk following the collapse of a fashion retailer with a store in Huddersfield.

Administrators have been appointed at womenswear chain Jane Norman, which has a store at Kingsgate.

All 90 stores of the firm’s stores across the UK were closed yesterday as administrators from accountancy firm Zolfo Cooper began efforts to find a buyer.

The shutters were down on the store at Unit 7, Kingsgate with a brief printed notice saying the store was “closed due to unforeseen circumstances”.

Jane Norman’s Yorkshire stores also include three in Leeds and others in Bradford, Doncaster, Hull, Harrogate, Keighley, Sheffield and York.

There were suggestions that Jane Norman could be sold quickly in a so-called pre-pack administration deal – with department store chain Debenhams and knitwear firm Edinburgh Woollen Mill reportedly among the potential bidders.

Pre-pack administrations are controversial because creditors can lose out as some of the debts are scrapped.

Jane Norman, which specialises in selling to women between the ages of 16 and 25, is the latest retail victim of the squeeze in consumer spending brought about by the financial crisis.