Convenience store chain McColl's is on the brink of collapse, putting around 16,000 jobs in jeopardy.
The retailer, which was started by Newcastle United player Robert Smyth McColl in Glasgow in 1901, is currently in emergency talks to try to raise new funding, has more than 1,300 stores in the UK, including around 30 in the North East area.
According to reports, the retailer has a matter of weeks to secure new funding and is understood to be working with advisors to find a buyer to help the business stay afloat.
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If McColl's fails to secure new funding and is forced into administration, it would be the largest retail collapse since the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group in 2020 and Debenhams, which employed about 12,000 people, in that same year.
The chain is also the largest operator for the Post Office in the UK, operating a branch from around 600 of its stores.
Around 200 of its stores trade under the Morrisons Daily brand after a successful trial of the concept last year – with McColl's announcing in November that it would expand the number of Morrisons Daily conversions from 350 to 450 within a year.
McColl's, which employs about 16,000 people, or roughly 6000 on a full-time equivalent basis, raised £30million from shareholders in a cash call just six months ago.
Although Morrisons is said to be keeping a close eye on its rescue talks with a view to possibly acquiring hundreds of its stores out of insolvency, it is not believed to be in active discussions about a complete takeover of the company, , reports The Mirror.
Jonathan Miller, McColl's chief executive, said in December that the financial year had "undoubtedly been a tough year for the business, ending with the widely reported and ongoing supply chain challenges".
The retailer had already been struggling previous to the pandemic, and Mr Miller is understood to have invested £3m personally in the fundraising last summer in a bid to save the business.
McColl's started in 1901, with the group being founded in 1973.
It has purchased and merged with various other chains in its 49 years of trading, and now has around five million customers every week.
McColls has been approached for comment.
