SikSilk's parent collapsed and was resold to its own former managers the same day

SikSilk, a UK online streetwear and athleisure label founded in Scarborough in 2013, sold clothing across Europe through its own site and third-party retailers including Zalando. On 22 June 2023, FRP Advisory's Anthony Collier and Simon Farr were appointed joint administrators of parent companies DBS Clothing Ltd, DVS Europe Ltd and DBS Online Ltd.

The administrators immediately completed a pre-pack sale of the businesses and their assets to Axel 123 Ltd, a buyer that included figures from DBS' own previous leadership — the deal closing the same day the administration began, with no open marketing period for other bidders.

Administrator Anthony Collier cited the retail sector's compounding pressures since the pandemic: cost inflation and reduced customer spending amid the UK's cost-of-living crisis. The sale saved more than 50 of the company's roughly 56 jobs, transferring them to the new entity, and let the SikSilk brand keep trading.

The pre-pack structure meant SikSilk's brand and stock survived intact while unsecured creditors of the old company were left behind — a common but often-criticised outcome when a company's own management ends up buying it back out of insolvency.