ONE of Britain’s biggest discount wholesalers has collapsed into administration, with scores of workers losing their jobs.
SOS Wholesale, which operates from a giant 70,000 sq ft warehouse in Derby, filed notice yesterday, Monday 8, to appoint administrators.
The move was lodged via law firm Shoosmiths, with Mitsubishi HC Capital as the applicant.
The family-run firm, once boasting more than 5,000 product lines, is part of London investment outfit RD Capital Partners.
It supplied cut-price goods to retailers across the country and was long seen as a key player in the wholesale trade.
But the numbers have been heading south.
In its latest accounts, to the end of October 2024, turnover dipped after bosses demanded up-front payments from some customers rather than offering pre-agreed credit terms.
Directors insisted the measure was needed to avoid bad debt and keep cash flowing.
Even with the move, operating profit slumped from £1.1million in 2023 to £756,000 last year.
Job losses
Staff numbers also shrank, falling from 146 in 2023 to 117.
Nearly 100 more are now understood to be out of work following the administration process, in a bitter blow to Derby’s workforce.
The collapse marks a dramatic fall for a business that was once considered one of the UK’s wholesale giants.
Retail pain in 2025
The collapse raises fears that independent shops and convenience stores relying on SOS for stock could face higher costs, meaning everyday bargains for families may vanish.
It’s not the only retailer struggling to stay afloat in 2025.
Recently, River Island and Poundland avoided going into administration by getting creditors to agree to restructuring plans, which included closing stores and cutting jobs.
River Island will close up to 33 stores in January to help write off the fashion brand’s debts.
Locations in major UK cities including Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford, Brighton and Perth are all expected to close.
Poundland’s restructuring will see the chain close a total of 68 stores.
The restructure also includes rent cuts at up to 180 stores and the closure of its frozen food and online shopping.
Meanwhile, the Darton frozen food distribution centre will shut later this year.
This will mean online shopping and frozen food will no longer be offered by Poundland.
The Bilston national distribution centre is also set to close in early 2026.
Come September 16, shoppers will no longer be able to buy products online and its loyalty scheme, Poundland Perks, will be axed.
Customers who have signed up to the Poundland Perks app have until January 15, 2026, to use their reward vouchers.
But Poundland plans to expand its £1 product range and focus on womenswear and seasonal items if the restructure goes ahead.
Meanwhile, fashion retailer New Look has closed a dozen sites in the UK this year and also exited Ireland.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”