Budgens stores closures: List of 34 branches shutting…

Budgens stores closures: List of 34 branches shutting down as more than 800 workers lose their job

Nine stores closed at the weekend, while the remaining 25 stores will cease trading over the course of the next two weeks PA Images

More than 800 supermarket workers will lose their jobs after the company behind the Budgens chain revealed it would be closing 34 of its stores.

Food Retailer Operations Limited (FROL), appointed administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers a month ago after hitting "difficult" trading conditions.

The stores were bought from the Co-op in 2016.

Administrators said they had been unable to find a buyer for the stores, which employ more than 800 people across the UK , from Dorset to Norfolk to Scotland.

Mike Denny, joint administrator at PwC, said: “Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a buyer and it is not commercially viable to continue trading the stores.

“We are working closely with the Co-op, [the shopworkers’ trade union] Usdaw and the relevant government agencies to ensure that all employees receive the maximum levels of practical and financial support through the redundancy process.”

Nine stores closed at the weekend, while the remaining 25 stores will cease trading over the course of the next two weeks. Following the stores closures, about 150 Budgens branches will be left trading.

The Budgens brand is owned by food wholesale giant Booker, which is currently in the process of being taken over by Tesco in a £3.7bn deal.