Homebase closes in on rescue deal for stricken Bathstore

HOMEBASE is close to snapping up Bathstore weeks after the specialist bathroom chain collapsed into administration, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Bathstore, which has 135 stores in the UK, went under last month, leading to 89 job losses at its headquarters. Administrators BDO have been looking for a buyer ever since.

Homebase, which was sold last year by Australia’s Wesfarmers, plans to add Bathstore concessions to some of its stores. Talks over a deal are expected to be finalised this weekend. It was unclear yesterday if Homebase would acquire all or just some Bathstore sites.

The loss-making specialist retailer joined a string of names that have become a victim of the brutal conditions on Britain’s high street, putting 500 jobs at risk, after it failed to find a buyer.

Many others, including Debenhams, Carpetright and Mothercare, have been shutting shops to stay afloat.

Bathstore’s administration came almost three decades after Patrick Riley and Nico de Beer opened the first shop in Croydon, south London. Most of its staff are shop workers.

Bathstore’s owner, the American billionaire Warren Stephens, who backed a management buyout in 2014, did not want to inject more cash to keep it afloat. BDO declined to comment.