More than 100 jobs have been lost after Nottingham-based doorstep lender Morses Club and sister company Shelby Finance called in administrators. Ed Boyle and Rob Spence from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to both businesses on November 17.

Between them the companies employed around 373 staff who worked remotely, and a spokeswoman said: “While the joint administrators have retained 272 staff across the two businesses to assist them while they assess options for the businesses, it is with regret that they confirm 101 redundancies today.

“The joint administrators will be working with the employees affected over the coming days to provide them with any and all support they need.”

The two companies provide short-term consumer loans, with Morses Club providing home collect credit and Shelby Finance offering loans online under the ‘Dot Dot Loans’ brand.

The spokeswomman said: “The companies have been under sustained financial pressure for some time, a situation which was exacerbated in recent years by Morses Club facing a significant number of customer redress claims for unaffordable lending.

“In order to address these issues, the management team worked strenuously in seeking to restructure the businesses.

“As part of this restructuring, in May 2023, Morses Club entered into a Scheme of Arrangement to provide a mechanism to maximise redress payments to customers and to also allow the businesses to continue to operate.

“However, despite management’s best efforts, Morses Club has been unable to complete the refinancing of its existing debt facilities and therefore, the directors took the difficult decision to appoint administrators to the businesses.”

She said as a result of the insolvency, that scheme would automatically terminate early.

Customers who are affected should visit morsesclubscheme.com.

Prior to the administrators being brought in, all new lending ceased, but the companies will continue to collect outstanding loans from customers.

The spokeswoman said: “Customers should continue to make repayments of outstanding loans in the usual way. It is important that customers continue to make payments on outstanding loans as they fall due, as not doing so is likely to impact their credit rating/profile and their ability to borrow.“