Business
Maternity brand Seraphine worn by Kate enters administration
The maternity fashion retailer Seraphine, whose clothes were worn by the Princess of Wales during her three pregnancies, has ceased trading and entered administration.
Consultancy firm Interpath confirmed to the BBC on Monday that it had been appointed as administrators by the company and that the “majority” of its 95 staff had been made redundant.
It said the brand had experienced “trading challenges” in recent times with sales being hit by “fragile consumer confidence”.
The fashion retailer was founded in 2002, but perhaps hit its peak when Catherine wore its maternity clothes on several occasions, leading to items quickly selling out.
Prior to the confirmation that administrators had been appointed, which was first reported by the Financial Times, Seraphine’s website was offering discounts on items as big as 60%. Its site now appears to be inaccessible to shoppers.
The main job of administration is to save the company, and administrators will try to rescue it by selling it, or parts of it. If that is not possible it will be closed down and all its saleable assets sold.
Will Wright, UK chief executive of Interpath, said economic challenges such as “rising costs and brittle consumer confidence” had proved “too challenging to overcome” for Seraphine.
Interpath said options are now being explored for the business and its assets, including the Seraphine brand.
The retailer’s flagship store was in Kensington High Street, London, but other well-known shops, such as John Lewis and Next, also stocked its goods.
The rise in popularity of Seraphine, driven in part by Royalty wearing its clothes, led to the company listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, before being taking back into private ownership in 2023.
Interpath said in April this year, the company “relaunched its brand identity, with a renewed focus on form, function and fit”.
“However, with pressure on cashflow continuing to mount, the directors of the business sought to undertake an accelerated review of their investment options, including exploring options for sale and refinance,” a statement said.
“Sadly, with no solvent options available, the directors then took the difficult decision to file for the appointment of administrators.”
Staff made redundant as a result of the company’s downfall are to be supported making claims to the redundancy payments service, Interpath added.
Business
OBR says pension triple lock to cost three times initial estimate
Cost of living correspondent
The cost of the state pension triple lock is forecast to be three times’ higher by the end of the decade than its original estimate, according to the government’s official forecaster.
The triple lock, which came into force in 2011, means that the state pension rises each year in line with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5% – whichever is highest.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the annual cost is estimated to reach £15.5bn by 2030.
Overall, the OBR said the UK’s public finances were in a “relatively vulnerable position” owing to pressure from recent government U-turns on planned spending cuts.
The recent reversal of proposed the welfare bill, on top of restoring winter fuel payments for most claimants, have contributed to a continued rise in government debt, according to the report.
It said: “Efforts to put the UK’s public finances on a more sustainable footing have met with only limited and temporary success in recent years in the aftermath of the shocks, debt has also continued to rise and borrowing remained elevated because governments have reversed plans to consolidate the public finances.
“Planned tax rises have been reversed, and, more significantly, planned spending reductions have been abandoned.”
Spending on the state pension has steadily risen, the OBR said, because the triple lock and a growing number of people above the state pension age was contributing to costs.
It added: “Due to inflation and earnings volatility over its first two decades in operation, the triple lock has cost around three times more than initial expectations.”
Pensioner protection
The UK’s state pension is the second-largest item in the government budget after health.
In 2011, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition brought in the triple lock to ensure the value of the state pension was not overtaken by the increase in the cost of living or the incomes of working people.
Since then, the non-earnings-linked element of the lock has been triggered “in eight of the 13 years to date”, the OBR pointed out.
That was because inflation “has turned out to be significantly more volatile” than expected.
In April 2025, the earnings link meant the state pension increased by 4.1%, making it worth:
- £230.25 a week for the full, new flat-rate state pension (for those who reached state pension age after April 2016) – a rise of £472 a year
- £176.45 a week for the full, old basic state pension (for those who reached state pension age before April 2016) – a rise of £363 a year
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the Labour government will keep the triple lock until the end of the current Parliament.
However, before and since that manifesto promise, there has been intense debate over the cost of the triple lock and whether it is justified.
Last week, the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent economic think-tank, suggested the triple lock be scrapped as part of a wider overhaul of pensions.
It argued that it should rise in line with prices, but the cost should be linked to a target level of economy-wide average earnings.
Pensioner groups say many older people face high living costs and need the protection of the triple lock to avoid them falling further into financial difficulty, especially because the amount actually paid was far from the most generous state pension in Europe.
Business
Pluriva Invests €250K in AI Virtual Assistant for Romanian Firms
Business
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