The company sealed a £60 million revolving credit facility in June in an attempt to shore up its balance sheet to help weather the pressure caused by weakening demand in the face of the growing cost-of-living crisis. 

Hargreaves, who reinstated himself as executive chairman in July, offered to inject tens of millions of pounds into the business last month, but there are doubts over his ability to stump up more cash. He is currently facing a tax bill of up to £135 million after the High Court ruled he was liable for capital gains tax on a £231 million share sale just two months after moving to the tax haven of Monaco in 2000.

Matalan, which claims 11 million customers, trades from around 230 stores across the UK, its e-commerce website as well as 50 franchise stores overseas. It reported underlying profits of £100 million last year as sales grew 38% to £1.03 billion.