Up-market furniture chain Dwell has ceased trading, it was announced today.
The retailer, which operates mainly in London and the south east, has closed its 23 stores and one House of Fraser concession and is reported to be on the brink of appointing Duff & Phelps as administrator. Some 350 jobs are at risk.

Dwell was established by Aamir Ahmad in 2003 as a mail-order furniture business with one store in Balham, south London. Private equity firm Key Capital Partners invested £5m in the company in 2010, and the latest annual financial results, to January 2012, show that it opened six new stores during the year, boosting turnover to £34.5m.

However those same accounts reveal that pre-tax losses grew to £675,320 from £456,349 as big-ticket items such as furniture continued to be hit hard by the downturn in consumer spending.

Dwell has been trying to find a way through its problems, including a sale of the business. The company said it had been working with its advisers, including Argyll Partners and Duff & Phelps, to secure further working capital for the business and that it had been talking to a number of interested parties "who see the value of the Dwell brand and product, its customer base and its multi-channel proposition.

"However, despite this interest it did not progress. As a result we have been left with no option but to close the business with immediate effect."