Lingerie brand La Senza has fallen into administration for the second time in less than three years - placing almost 40 jobs in the West Midlands at risk.

Marnixheath Ltd, which trades in the UK as La Senza and also owns three frozen yoghurt shops trading as Pinkberry, was placed under the control of administrators Robert Moran, Mike Jervis and Stuart Maddison of PwC today.

The move could affect 39 staff working at three stores in the region - in Birmingham's Bullring , the Intu Merry Hill in Dudley and in Mill Lane, Solihull.

The company operates 55 La Senza stores in the UK while its Pinkberry outlets are in Westfield Stratford and Selfridges in London and Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.

In total, the company employs 752 staff across England, Wales and Scotland.

The La Senza UK store portfolio was acquired in 2012 by Marnixheath from private equity firm Lion Capital after it called in administrators in December 2011.

PwC said it had experienced very difficult trading conditions since then despite sustained efforts to make the businesses more commercially viable.

Mr Moran added: "The challenging conditions in the UK high street are well documented.

"Like many other retailers, La Senza has been hit hard by the difficult economic environment and a slowdown in consumer spending.

"The administrators are continuing to trade the businesses as normal for the time being whilst discussions take place with interested parties in respect of a sale.

"There are no immediate plans to close any stores and the administrators shall continue to assess the trading strategy over the coming days and weeks.

"Staff have been, and will continue to be, paid for their work. The company and the administrators are making every effort to help staff at this difficult time."

La Senza UK was previously owned by former Dragons' Den star Theo Paphitis who sold the chain in 2006 to private equity firm Lion Capital for £100m.

Marnixheath is a division of the Alshaya Kuwaiti retail group which operates franchises for companies such as Next and Mothercare.

The North American operations of La Senza and throughout the rest of the world remain unaffected by the actions taken in the UK.

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