D2, an Ayrshire-based clothing chain, became the newest recession casualty, yesterday, when the company was forced into administration. The fashion brand which has 76 retail stores in the UK, 23 of which are located in Scotland, began in 1999 when Sir Tom Hunter, who formerly owned Fosters Menswear stores, joined forces with Alan Kinney and Jim McGonigle, both formerly of Jeans for Sale outlets.

Two years prior to the collapse of the fashion stores, Hunter sold out his majority share to Kinney and McGonigle. Around this time the store was recording heavy losses. BDO, the company’s representing accountancy firm, made the announcement yesterday that the d2 business would remain in trade with the hope of locating a buyer for the company.

Meanwhile, all 76 of the fashion stores are currently remaining open until a decision can be made or an offer brought by a competitor. 39 jobs have been lost so far as the administrators chose to close outlets located in Dublin. The remaining staff at the company, after 61 redundancies were given out yesterday, are now awaiting news from a potential buyer as to whether or not their jobs will survive the fallout.

Currently d2 has a staff of 110 full time employees and 140 part-time staff spread out among its 23 stores in Scotland, these numbers, however, do not include the companies 29 warehouses which bring the totals to 830, of which 390 are part time staff. Should the company collapse hundreds could be without jobs, a harsh reminder to the fact that the economic downturn is still affecting many businesses on the UK market.

Tags: d2, d2 enters administration, Sir Tom Hunter, UK fashion d2, UK fashion retailer