First Quench administration update: a further 381 stores to be closed

The joint administrators of First Quench Retailing ("First Quench”), which trades as Threshers, Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine, have announced the closure of a further 381 stores.

 

This will result in 1,908 redundancies within the stores which are closing and a further 34 redundancies at First Quench's head office in Welwyn Garden City which have been made today.

Richard Fleming, UK Head of Restructuring at KPMG and joint administrator, said:
"We are now in advanced talks regarding the sale of the business with a number of interested parties and have ascertained that parts of the portfolio, consisting of just over 500 stores, are of interest to these potential purchasers.  These stores will continue to trade while we progress with our negotiations.

"Unfortunately there has not been sufficient interest in these 381 stores as part of the going concern sale, so we have no option but to close them.  However, we have had an enormous amount of interest in these sites from over 700 small local businesses and private individuals.  Christie & Co* is assisting us in assigning the leases of the remaining stores to interested buyers.”

Depending on stock levels, the 381 stores are due to close by 16th December and will be holding stock liquidation sales which will start on 24th November.  Details of the stores which are closing will be available on the company's website at http://www.threshergroup.com/ from this afternoon.

This follows an announcement on 5th November that 373 loss-making stores were to close following the administrators' initial review of the business.


Friday, 20th November 2009


-Ends-


Notes to editors:
Richard Fleming, Mick McLoughlin and Ian Corfield of KPMG were appointed joint administrators to First Quench on Thursday 29th October 2009. First Quench originally operated around 1,200 stores as the Threshers, Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine brands, employing approximately 6,300 people.

For further press information on the administration and going concern sale, please contact:
Rachael Halliday, PR manager, KPMG: 0117 905 4373 / 07747 102909
rachael.halliday@kpmg.co.uk
Patrick Tooher, Head of Media Relations, KPMG: 020 7694 2597 / 07831 314671
patrick.tooher@kpmg.co.uk
KPMG Press Office: 020 7694 8773

For further information on the Christie & Co sales process, please contact:
*www.christie.com/fqr / 0844 4123255
For Christie & Co press enquiries, please contact:
Mark Wingett, Head of Media Relations, Christie & Co: 020 7227 0794
Mark.Wingett@christie.com

Further information:
More detailed information for stakeholders, such as landlords, employees and creditors, is available at http://www.threshergroup.com/.
The administrators have set up a general query helpline number and email address:
0844 576 8862 / fqrinfo@kpmg.co.uk.
Interested buyers should contact Michael Maccallum or Louise Ingham at KPMG on either 020 7311 8582 or 020 7694 3459.


About KPMG
KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with 11,500 partners and staff.  The UK firm recorded a turnover of €2.2 billion in the year ended September 2008. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 148 countries and have more than 113,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative. KPMG International provides no client services.


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