Two of Britain's best-known retailers, Woolworths and MFI, went into administration yesterday putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.
Two of Britain's best-known retailers, Woolworths and MFI, went into administration yesterday putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.
Around 30,000 staff in 815 stores across the UK are affected by the collapse of Woolworths, the famous "pick 'n' mix"
retailer, while a further 1200 jobs are threatened at MFI's 111 outlets.
The announcements have raised further concerns about the extent of the recession in Britain and the future of the high street. Around 30 high-street chains have gone bust this year so far, including shoe sellers Dolcis and soft furnishings retailer Rosebys.
The status of pre-Christmas online orders with Woolworths was last night in question with officials unable to say whether deliveries would be honoured.
Shares in Woolworths, a fixture on Britain's high street for almost 100 years, were suspended yesterday morning at 1.22p, giving it a market value of £18m, as it teetered on the brink of collapse, struggling with debts of £385m.
Efforts to stave off collapse by finding a buyer for a nominal price of £1 appeared to have failed as the 99-year-old chain and its Entertainment UK business, which supplies DVDs to supermarkets, headed for administration yesterday.
Hundreds of stores across Britain are expected to close, causing thousands of redundancies.
Meanwhile 26 MFI stores are expected to close immediately - with the loss of around 260 jobs.
The administrators, MCR, will now attempt to sell the business as a going concern.
In the meantime, closing-down sales are expected to be launched in all of MFI's remaining stores. It is thought unlikely that any buyer will come forward.
The move follows a bitter stand-off between MFI's owners and the landlords of its stores. The company had requested a three-month rent-free period from the landlords of its stores who, at the beginning of October, gave the firm just one month's grace.
MFI said all customer orders would be either fulfilled or refunded, adding that it had written to each of its customers.
