A company controlled by high-profile Icelandic retail entrepreneur Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson was forced to file for administration yesterday as the ripples from the nationalisation of an Icelandic bank threatened to reach the UK high street.

Stodir - an investment company formerly known as FL Group - was the biggest shareholder in Glitnir Bank, with 32 per cent, and said it had filed for administration after the Icelandic government took a 75 per cent stake in the bank, massively diluting existing shareholders.