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Collapsed high street retailer Woolworths has told staff the entire chain will shut its doors for the last time by 5 January.
Administrators Deloitte have failed to find a buyer for the business as a going concern with the retailer now expected to be broken up and its 807 stores sold off in lots to rivals.
Staff were informed of the closure timetable in an email from head office this morning. According to one worker a first tranche of 200 stores will close on Christmas Eve - the official closing date is 27 December but most staff are expected to finish up on Christmas Eve. He said there would be a second wave of closures on New Year's Eve. The remaining stores will close their doors by 5 January, bringing the curtain down on nearly a century of trading during which Woolworths has been the cornerstone of many UK high streets.
Shoppers have flocked to Woolworths' stores since it collapsed and the administrators said today they were replenishing stocks with more than 50m items arriving this week.
Deloitte was appointed as administrator late last month after management failed to agree new financing terms with its banking syndicate.
The firm said today that 300 of the stores are still "under offer" with bids having been received from food, clothing and discount retailers.
Woolworths' distribution arm EUK - which supplies CDs to supermarkets and Zavvi - is also in administration. More than 1,000 of the group's estimated 30,000 workforce - which inclues 27,000 store staff - have already lost their jobs.
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