Bride tells of shock at Berketex wedding firm collapse

A Scottish bride has told how her wedding plans were thrown into disarray when a bridal wear firm called in administrators.

Berketex Bride had two stores in Scotland, in Bath Street in Glasgow and Frederick Street in Edinburgh.

Megan Cruickshank from Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, said she knew something "wasn't right" when she went for a remeasuring last week.

Nine other outlets elsewhere in the UK have also shut, and a store in Dublin.

The company said its director expressed his "sincere apologies for the abrupt closure of the store".

Ms Cruickshank told BBC Scotland she felt there were problems when she visited the Glasgow shop last week.

"I just got the feeling something wasn't right....that there was something the women in the shop weren't telling me," she said.

"There was talk that the store in Newcastle had shut, and that the way they were selling dresses had changed - that they were only selling off the rack, and not taking any pre-orders - but I was pretty much guaranteed my dress would be OK."

Megan, who is due to get married in July 2019, will not get her dress from Berketex Bride. She is hoping that she will get her money back, as she paid using a credit card.

She said a bridal company in Hamilton has promised to help her find a replacement dress, but feels sorry for other brides whose weddings are closer, saying the situation is "shocking".

Another bride, Stephanie Allison from Glasgow, said she got a call at 16:30 saying she could come and collect her dress, as long as she paid the balance.

Stephanie said: "I was told if I didn't get it today, and pay the balance, I wouldn't be receiving my dress.

"I'm really upset, because obviously it's coming up to Christmas, and who's got that kind of spare money lying about at this time of year?

"Fortunately I was able to get my dress, which is really good."

Insolvency practitioners Wilson Field, who have been instructed to assist the company, said they appreciated that the closure would be "distressing" for customers and would deal with individual queries as quickly as possible.