My Local administration puts over 1000 jobs at risk

Collapse: M Local employed more than 1600 people

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Clare Hutchison30 June 2016

The latest high street collapse - convenience store chain MyLocal - has put more than 1000 jobs at risk.

The company, originally an arm of supermarket Morrisons before being sold to Greybull Capital for £25 million last year, appointed administrators KPMG yesterday.

KPMG said that two of its 125 stores had been sold and 90 had closed resulting in a "significant number of redundancies". My Local had 1,658 employees across the country.

Another three stores are set to shut, while 32 remain open and continue to trade.

It means My Local joins the group of retailers that have failed in recent weeks, including BHS, Austin Reed and Store Twenty One.

My Local, fronted by retail veteran Mike Greene, has been searching for a buyer after warning staff last week it was on the brink of collapse.

Morrisons said if no buyer came forward, it would take on staff left out of work as a result of branch closures.

Today Mike Greene said he was "truly sorry" that he and his management were unable to save the business.

"The last nine months has been one of the toughest retail trading periods that I have ever experienced and My Local has faced intense competition."

"The management team has been unable to return the business to profitability. For that I am truly sorry."

KPMG's Mark Orton said discussions over sales of the remaining stores were "active".

"We are pursuing these opportunities as a matter of priority in the hope that we will be able to conclude successful sales and safeguard as many jobs as possible."

Morrisons made a loss of around £30 million when it sold the fleet of convenience stores as part of chief executive Dave Potts' plans to refocus the Bradford-based grocer on its core supermarkets.

Back to basics: David Potts

Toby Melville/Reuters

Potts said Morrisons, which arrived late in the convenience sector, had been unable to scale the chain.

Orton said the convenience sector has been suffering from "significant challenges in recent times, through increasing competition, pricing pressures, changes in customers’ buying habits and general structural change within the sector".

KPMG highlighted Local Data Company figures showing convenience stores were the slowest growing segment in the food and groceries market over the last five years.