The application said the firm also wanted to help "create a sustainable infrastructure for the UK's fashion industry, centred in Leicester, that will continue to provide secure jobs to skilled workers, and a self-sustaining, transparent support and logistics network...

"The joint administrators are in continued discussion with an interested party in relation to the purchase of certain Greensill Capital assets. As these discussions remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time," the spokesperson added.

Last week, the Office for Budget Responsibility said the economy would recover to its pre-crisis level by the middle of next year, six months earlier than it had previously predicted. Meanwhile, it said unemployment would peak at 6.6%, lower than the 7.5% it forecast...