Claims by Moss Bros that it only entered into an offer period at the beginning of this week are in direct opposition to the official view of the UK Takeover Panel, which placed the ailing UK retailer under an offer period over two months ago.

Moss Bros confirmed on Monday that it had received and rejected an approach last week from representatives of Shami Ahmed, the fashion entrepreneur behind the Joe Bloggs jeans brands, who has built up a 5.42% stake in the company.