A FASHION retailer that made hats for celeb actors has fallen into liquidation after 253 years in business.
The company decided to close up shop after a meeting on February 12 with its shareholders.
Christy & Co, which founded the iconic Christys hat brand, has been making high-quality hats, bowlers, and caps since 1773.
It was founded by Miller Christy and grew to become the largest hat and cap factory in the world by 1843.
The brand was the first to provide headwear to the British police as well as actors in famous films like Indiana Jones.
Its Stockport factory had also been visited by Queen Elizabeth, who commissioned the company to make miniature hats for her daughter’s dolls.
The Oxfordshire-based retailer’s shareholders agreed that the company should be “wound up voluntarily”.
It officially entered voluntary liquidation and appointed Yiannis Koumettou and Amie Helen Johnson, of BTG Begbies Traynor Central LLP, as joint liquidators.
But it is not the end for the legacy hat brand, as London hatmaker Laird Hatters stepped in to buy it.
Christys was bought in October by Laird – which is run by husband and wife Alex and Zofia Torun-Shaw.
Speaking to Oxford Mail, Alex said: “Late last year, in October, we were contacted about the possibility of saving Christys the brand, the company already being insolvent.
“As we understand it, Christys had been available for sale for some time, but we were only approached very late in the process.
“When the opportunity was presented to us, it felt like both a privilege and a responsibility to step in.”
