Supermarket calls in administrators
ADMINISTRATORS have been called in to oversee a convenience store chain with a shop in Widnes.
KPMG Restructuring have appointed Mark Orton and Blair Nimmo as the joint administrators of My Local.
The chain has 125 stores across the UK, including one in Upton Rocks in Widnes.
A total of 90 stores have shut across the country, with a KPMG spokesman saying that there have been a ‘significant number’ of redundancies.
However, the Widnes store is among 32 which have remained open and are still trading.
Another three stores are in the process of closing, while a further two were sold before the administrators were appointed.
The chain employed 1,658 people across the UK, but the KPMG spokesman added that data from the Local Data Company suggested convenience stores were the slowest growing segment in the food and groceries market over the last five years.
Mr Orton said that the administrators are in ‘active discussions’ with interested parties regarding the 32 stores which remain open – including the Widnes one – and that they hope to conclude ‘successful sales’.
He said: “Although the majority of stores have now closed, we are in active discussions with a number of interested parties in relation to the remaining 32 premises that are trading and a small number of those closed.
“We are pursuing these opportunities as a matter of priority in the hope we will be able to conclude successful sales and safeguard as many jobs as possible.
“We will also work closely with all employees over the coming days, in particular ensuring those who have been made redundant receive the support they need.”
Mr Orton added that companies in the convenience store sector have faced ‘significant challenges’ through increasing competition, pricing pressures, changes in customers’ buying habits and structural changes.
He said: “Since taking over the business in October last year, management have faced tough trading conditions and despite their best efforts to improve performance, My Local was ultimately unable to return to viability.
“Having explored a number of other options, the directors were unable to find a way forward and took the difficult decision to place the company into administration.”