11,000 BHS staff face axe as high street chain goes under

Updated

BHS staff are facing uncertainty after the company's administrator failed to find a buyer for the high street giant.

Up to 11,000 jobs are at risk as all 163 of the chain's shops will now close.

Stores may be sold off individually, but employees do not know whether their jobs will go.

It was hoped that administrator Duff & Phelps would be able to accept one of the last-ditch offers for the chain from Mothercare boss Greg Tufnell or Mike Ashley's Sports Direct.

But the firm announced on Thursday that the business would be wound down and all BHS's shops closed and sold off to other retailers.

Duff & Phelps added that 8,000 permanent jobs were likely to be lost and another 3,000 not directly employed by BHS were also at risk.

Former BHS owner Sir Philip Green said he was "saddened and disappointed" to learn that the retailer is to disappear from the high street.

In the Manchester City Centre branch, believed to employ around 250 workers, staff continued as normal, with customers being told it would be "weeks" before they knew if their store was closing for definite and their jobs lost.

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