The administrators of Threshers owner First Quench Retailing are to shut 373 stores, resulting in 1,738 redundancies.

Dependent upon stock levels, 247 of the affected loss-making shops will trade until November 25th. The remaining 126 will remain open until December 2. A liquidation Sale will start tomorrow, November 6.

The list of shops to shut has not yet been released, but will be available on www.retail-week.com noon tomorrow.

Joint administrator Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG, said: “The remaining stores will continue to be traded as usual while we seek a buyer.

“So far we have received considerable interest from a range of buyers including trade, individual investors and private equity.

“The remaining stores are trading well and we believe they present an attractive investment. We are confident of securing a sale in the coming weeks.”

First Quench’s 1,200 stores operate under the Threshers, The Local, Wine Rack, Victoria Wine and Haddows fascias and employ 6,300 people. The business was put into administration last week.

Topics