UK retailer BHS is on the brink and could file for administration as early as Monday, according to sources close to the owners.
Department store chain British Home Stores could join Woolworths on the scrapheap of high-street staples. The loss-making store was bought out by financiers, lawyers and accountants with no retail experience and came close to closure last month with a rescue deal from creditors keeping the company solvent.
But time could have run out for BHS. Sources close to the owners have told the BBC that “things don’t look good”. The owners are thought to have struggled to deliver £160 million of funding to turn things around, and could file for administration tomorrow.
A closure would threaten 11,000 jobs. Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw told the BBC it was “seeking urgent clarification from the company”.
It also called on BHS to begin a dialogue “at this difficult and worrying time for staff”.