High street jobs could be at risk in the borough as hopes of a rescue deal for McColl’s Retail Group, one of Britain’s biggest convenience store chains, fade.
The chain, which has stores on Carlton Hill and Calverton could call in administrators as early as Friday, according to Sky News
The broadcaster says the company’s imminent collapse is expected to trigger renewed interest in a partial takeover from both Morrison’s and EG Group, the petrol retailing giant owned by TDR Capital and the billionaire Issa brothers Mohsin and Zuber.
McColl’s, has an extensive national partnership with the supermarket giant Morrisons.
The company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, employs about 16,000 people, or roughly 6,000 on a full-time equivalent basis.
The chain trades from approximately 1,100 convenience stores and newsagents across Britain, with about 200 of them now trading under the Morrisons Daily format through a partnership with the supermarket giant.
McColls had warned earlier this week that its shares would be suspended at the end of May because it would be unable to meet a statutory deadline for filing its annual results.
Morrisons is said to have proposed a rescue deal to McColl’s lenders in recent weeks, with the supermarket chain injecting new capital.
In a statement to Sky News, The McColls Group said: “It is increasingly likely that the Group would be placed into administration with the objective of achieving a sale of the Group to a third-party purchaser and securing the interests of creditors and employees.”
