Its shops are still trading and the administrators will be trying to find a way to keep the business going.

Wax Lyrical has 35 stores across the UK, it is the country's largest specialist candle retailer and should have just had its busiest few weeks of the year.

But the firm's owner, Blyth, said the business was likely to run up "substantial" losses in the current financial year.

Blyth said Wax Lyrical had been unable to sustain its profits as more mainstream rivals had moved into its market.

Wax Lyrical employs 175 people and the shops are still open for business as the reciever looks to sell the firm as a going concern.

Sluggish sales

Blyth, a candle and home fragrance manufacturer, bought an initial stake in Wax Lyrical in 1998 then increased it to a majority shareholding in February 2000.

At the time Blyth chief executive office Robert Goergen said the acquisition would help the firm "tap into the scented candle market in Europe, a market we believe has significant growth potential over the next five years".

Wax Lyrical stores sell a range of candles and accessories and last year enjoyed annual sales of more than £10m ($16m).

But the UK operation has been hit by a sluggish run-up to Christmas on the High Street as well as mainstream firms such as department stores and direct sales companies moving into the scented candle market.

As a result, according to Mr Goergen, the viability of niche players such as Wax Lyrical has been undermined.

At the same time as announcing that it would be putting Wax Lyrical into receivership Blyth downgraded its fourth quarter profits forecast in the US.

The Wax Lyrical brand has since been bought by the Colony Gift Corporation, which has now relaunched the brand to sell candles online; it is not connected to the retailer that went into liquidation.