Sam's back in fashion with shop relaunch

FASHION store entrepreneur Samantha Withall has relaunched her business after her chain of shops went into liquidation in November.

Withall said her Sam Thomas mini-chain, which had shops in Edinburgh, St Andrews and Perth, fell victim to the recession, although it also suffered from disruption caused by tram works in the capital's West End.

Now Withall is going back to basics, starting again with a single shop called Sam Brown on the site of one of her old stores in Edinburgh's William Street.

Withall said that after the painful experience of losing her staff and telling suppliers she had worked with for many years that she was going out of business, she was surprised to find she still had support for her new venture.

Many of her old suppliers have been prepared to offer her credit, despite losing money when Sam Thomas closed.

"I hadn't swanned around saying I was doing really well. I think there's a lot of people in the same boat. That's why you get sympathy, and why people understand," Withall said.

Now everything is on a tight budget, with friends and family lending their skills and time to help her get started without any bank funding.

After employing 35 staff, Withall is back working in a shop, but she sees a positive side. She said: "When a business is good you get lazy. When I started, all the stock I bought was new and exciting. I want it to be like that again."