Maternity wear chain Blooming Marvellous, which has a store in Bluewater, is reported to be close to following other retailers into administration.

According to Retail Week, the trade publication, the 14-store business owned by an Icelandic investor Arev, has lined up Zolfo Cooper as administrator after Arev pulled future funding from its retail investments, which also include Jones the Bootmaker and Mountain Warehouse.

A source said the Bluewater outlet of Blooming Marvellous was trading normally today.

However, the company’s website was not operating for what it called "technical difficulties," adding that it was unable to process any orders or queries at the moment. "Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused," it said.

Arev is understood to have been hit by the banking collapse in Iceland. It bought Blooming Marvellous for around £5m in 2007.

Blooming Marvellous, which seized the mail order market for maternity wear during the 1990s, is seen as a classy alternative to drab High Street fashions for pregnant mums.

A success story after spotting a serious gap in the market, the company specialises in high quality fabrics, steering away from decades of baggy floral designs.

It sells smart workwear alongside trim and chic minimalist numbers that are smart and adaptable enough to be worn after baby's birth.

Its designers were early advocates of chic designer fashions for newborns and small babies - with the advantage - unusual in the 1990s - that it could all be bought without a trawl around the shops.