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Budgens: More than 800 jobs lost as 34 stores close | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A chain of 34 Budgens stores has failed to find a buyer and will close, with the loss of more than 800 jobs. | |
The owner of the stores affected, Food Retailer Operations Limited (FROL), was put in administration a month ago after hitting "difficult" trading conditions. | |
The stores are spread around the UK, from Dorset to Norfolk to Scotland, and were bought from the Co-op in 2016. | |
The closures do not affect the remainder of the Budgens chain, which has more than 100 stores. | |
The administrators, PwC, said they had failed to find a buyer for the FROL stores and were looking for firms to take over their leases. | |
Nine of the 34 closed at the weekend and the remaining 25 will shut for good over the next two weeks. | Nine of the 34 closed at the weekend and the remaining 25 will shut for good over the next two weeks. |
Mike Denny, joint administrator at PwC, said: "Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a buyer and it is not commercially viable to continue trading the stores. | Mike Denny, joint administrator at PwC, said: "Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a buyer and it is not commercially viable to continue trading the stores. |
"We are working closely with the Co-op, USDAW and the relevant government agencies to ensure that all employees receive the maximum levels of practical and financial support through the redundancy process." | "We are working closely with the Co-op, USDAW and the relevant government agencies to ensure that all employees receive the maximum levels of practical and financial support through the redundancy process." |
The Budgens brand is owned by food wholesale giant Booker, which is currently in the process of being taken over by Tesco. | The Budgens brand is owned by food wholesale giant Booker, which is currently in the process of being taken over by Tesco. |
The Budgens stores affected: | |
Closed on 26 February: | |
Closing on 5 March: | |
Closing on 9 March: |