BHS seeks buyer to avoid biggest High Street collapse since Woolworths

Thousands of jobs across the UK are hanging in the balance as British Home Stores (BHS) has filed for administration.

The London-headquartered retailer is looking for a buyer in the hope of saving its network of 164 stores and around 11k jobs.

Administrators Philip Duffy and Benjamin Wiles, of corporate financial advisory firm Duff & Phelps, commented: “The group has been undergoing restructuring and, as has been widely reported, the shareholders have been in negotiations to find a buyer for the business.

“These negotiations have been unsuccessful.”

According to the BBC, if BHS fails to secure a buyer, its downfall will mark the High Street’s biggest collapse since Woolworths shut down in 2008.

With debts now past the £1.3bn mark, BHS was previously in talks with retail group Sports Direct regarding the sale of some of its UK stores, but the negotiations fell through over the weekend.

Founded in Brixton in 1928, BHS’ rapid expansion saw it operating a UK-wide network of 94 stores by the 1960s.

In 2000, the company was taken over by British retail tycoon Philip Green, who sold it on to the Retail Acquisitions consortium in 2015.

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