Shares in Barratts' parent firm have been suspended
High Street shoe shop chains Barratts and PriceLess have gone into administration, it has been announced.
The two chains consist of 400 stores nationwide, employing a total workforce of 5,450 people.
Administrators from Deloitte said the shops had not been closed and were continuing to trade as normal.
Barratts and PriceLess are owned by a Bradford-based firm, Stylo. The parent company is not in administration, but its shares have been suspended.
Deloitte said it was seeking to place the companies into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), in which people who are owed money by a firm can vote on a repayment proposal put forward by its directors.
If the proposal is approved by 75% of creditors, the company can emerge from administration and pay what it owes within an agreed period of time.
'High rents'
Stylo said it did not anticipate any short-term improvement in trading conditions, which it said had "deteriorated markedly".
"Against this background, the board has concluded that current and projected sales cannot support the current cost base of the business, in particular the high rent obligations," Stylo's statement said.
"Therefore a more pro-active restructuring approach is required to return the business to profitability."
Stylo said it wanted to repay all creditors in full and reach a new agreement with landlords.
It added that it had support from the Prudential, Lloyds Group and Barclays for the restructuring process.
Two British footwear chains have entered , a form of company liquidation in the United Kingdom. Both Barratts and PriceLess are owned by parent company . Stylo has not entered administration itself but shares have been suspended.

The chains have a joint workforce of around 5,450 employees and operate 400 stores around the United Kingdom. In February Stylo purchased 24 stores from shoe retailer  after it had gone bust.  

A spokesman for Stylo said that they did not anticipate any short-term improvement in trading conditions. It was also mentioned that the company had the support of the  and .  No stores are yet planned to close.

Other companies that have entered administration due to the financial crisis include , , , and .