Fears grow for future of electronics chain Maplin
The retailer, owned by private equity firm Rutland Partners, appointed PwC to oversee an administration at the end of February after rescue attempts failed.
Maplin has 217 stores in the UK including in Fratton in Portsmouth and, while PwC is attempting to find a buyer for the group, it is understood that no credible offer has materialised.
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Hide AdIt is thought that, if a white knight fails to emerge in the coming days, store closures could be announced as soon as next week.
The axe has already been swung on 129 jobs at the firm’s head offices in London and Rotherham, and thousands more are now expected to be made redundant.
When Maplin went bust last month, it became the second retailer to collapse into administration in one day following the failure of Toys R Us, which is shutting all 100 of its UK stores.
Maplin chief executive Graham Harris said at the time that the retailer had been struggling to mitigate the impact of the pound’s devaluation since the Brexit vote, along with a weak consumer environment and the withdrawal of credit insurance.