Former Kingfisher boss Sir Geoff Mulcahy is in talks to take over 500 Woolworths stores and revive the brand.

Mulcahy, who created Kingfisher out of the Paternoster takeover of Woolworths in 1982, is convinced the famous fascia still has a place on the high street.

He told The Sun newspaper: “You have 25,000 staff at Woolworths and there must be a way of trying to save this business.

“It’s late in the day but there’s still a possibility. We’re considering a number of options.”

Mulcahy is understood to have a management team waiting in the wings that would run the store group and pay off its debts of£380 million.

However, industry sources said Mulcahy’s chances of pulling off a deal were slim.

It is understood that Woolworths’ administrators, Deloitte, have already arranged to sell 350 of Woolworths’ 800 shops to other retailers.

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