Stores across North wales are closed today but staff have been asked to report to work as normal
Phones 4u is to go into administration - placing more than 5,500 jobs at risk - after network operator EE joined Vodafone in cutting ties with the retailer.
The company said its stores, including Caernarfon, Bangor, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay,Rhyl and Wrexham, will be closed today pending a decision by the administrators on whether the business can be reopened for trading.
Phones 4u said the decision by EE not to renew its current contract, which is due to end in September next year, was a “complete shock” and meant it would be left without a single network partner after Vodafone said earlier this month that it would not extend its agreement.
The company, which is owned by private equity firm BC Partners, has 550 standalone stores in all, employing 5,596 people.
Phones 4u chief executive David Kassler said last night: “Today is a very sad day for our customers and our staff.
“If the mobile network operators decline to supply us, we do not have a business. A good company making profits of over £100 million, employing thousands of decent people has been forced into administration.
“The great service we have provided should have guaranteed a strong future, but unfortunately our network partners have decided otherwise. The ultimate result will be less competition, less choice and higher prices for mobile customers in the UK.”
Staff have been asked to report to work as normal this morning as they will be briefed by management.
The business was set up by entrepreneur John Caudwell in the mid-1980s. By the time he sold it for £1.5 billion in 2006 it was selling 26 phones a minute and employed 10,000 people. It generated sales of more than £2.25 billion.
Phones 4u said it remained a profitable business, with turnover of over £1 billion, underlying earnings of £105 million in 2013 and significant cash in the bank.
And the recession is over?
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