Drinks retailer goes into administration putting Lanarkshire jobs at risk

Nov 5 2009 by Sandra Walls, Hamilton Advertiser

STAFF at off-licence stores throughout Lanarkshire were this week facing an uncertain future.

It follows the announcement that First Quench Retailing has been put into administration.

The company’s stores include high street names such as Victoria Wine, The Local, Wine Rack and Haddows, and they employ about 64 staff in the county .

None of the company’s Scottish stores has yet closed although there have been 81 redundancies at their head office in Welwyn Garden City.

Administrators KPMG said on Tuesday that store closures and further redundancies were likely.

A spokesman added: “The administrators will now assess the viability of each store and once that has been completed, a further communication will be issued.”

Richard Fleming, Mick McLoughlin and Ian Corfield of KPMG have been appointed joint administrators to First Quench, who operate 1202 branded stores across Scotland, England and Wales and employ a total of 6283 people.

The joint administrators are allowing the company to continue trading while efforts are made to sell the business as a going concern.

A total of 86 of the stores are franchises and, as they operate as separate businesses owned by their own management teams, do not fall within the remit of the administration.

Administrators will continue to support the supply needs of the franchisees as far as possible while the business is traded.

Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG, said: “Trading in the off-licence sector has become increasingly competitive in recent years, with the recession proving too much of an additional burden in this case.

“The business has a comprehensive geographic footprint and we believe this presents a compelling opportunity to other retailers who may wish to extend their reach.

“We will continue to trade the remaining business while we seek a buyer.”

More detailed information for stakeholders is available at www.threshergroup.com