Jobs at risk amid collapse of retail chain

CONVENIENCE chain McColl’s has confirmed it will collapse into administration, putting 1,100 shops and 16,000 workers at risk.

The troubled retailer held talks with its lenders on Friday morning in the hope they could extend their loan agreements.

Supermarket giant Morrisons, which is a major wholesale partner, also tabled a last-ditch effort to buy the business, which it said would have “kept the vast majority of jobs and stores safe”.

However, the company confirmed “the lenders made clear that they were not satisfied that such discussions would reach an outcome acceptable to them”.

It said the company will now appoint administrators from PwC in an effort to “preserve the future of the business and to protect the interests of employees”.

The company said it hopes the administrators will help to “implement a sale of the business to a third-party purchaser as soon as possible”.

McColl’s has struggled financially in recent years after witnessing soaring costs due to supply chain disruption, inflation and its large debt burden.