JUST DAYS TO RESCUE TOY GIANT
Thousands of jobs in peril
THE future of Britain’s biggest toy store is under threat unless it pays a £15million VAT bill by the end of the month.
Toys R Us faces crashing into administration unless it can find new investors.
Bosses at the toy giant will work through the weekend to try to secure the funds they need.
If they fail to pay the bill, administration could put its 3,000 UK employees at risk of losing their jobs.
A number of firms are said to have held talks in the past fortnight, but whether any are ready to step in remains unclear.
Hilco Capital, which salvaged the music and entertainment retailer HMV in 2013, is understood to have tabled a proposal but it would only save a minority of Toys R Us’ 105 British outlets.
This comes after a difficult time for the company, who only made it through Christmas after they agreed to close a quarter of their shops.
Managers say its warehouse style shops had become too big and expensive to run.
Weak retail sales growth figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics added to concerns over their future.
This comes after fierce competition from online retailers such as Amazon. Before Christmas it had tried to fight off administration after reaching a deal with the UK’s pension lifeboat to plug a £9m black hole.
As part of a Company Voluntary Agreement deal, it will close 25 of 106 stores across the UK, with plans to cut 800 more jobs.
A spokesman for the troubled retailer said it wouldn’t be commenting on the latest reports.