Revealed - Bristol off-licences to close

Six off-licences are to close in the Bristol area, with the loss of about 50 jobs, after the owner of some of the best-known names in the industry went into administration.

Administrators for First Quench, the company which owns Threshers, Wine Rack, Victoria Wines, Bottoms Up, Haddows and The Local, said the shops were all making a loss and had to close while a buyer for the remaining stores was sought.

The stores that will close in and around Bristol are in: Straits Parade, Fishponds; Whiteladies Road and Portland Street, Clifton; Crow Lane, Henbury; Gloucester Road, Bishopston; and Keynsham High Street.

In Gloucestershire, the Threshers store in Long Street, Wotton-under-Edge, is also to shut.

Nationally, more than 1,700 workers are to lose their jobs, with 373 stores closing.

Accountancy firm KPMG was appointed as administrator and has been trying to sell off the shops as going concerns.

KPMG said 247 of the First Quench stores being closed will stay open until November 25, while a further 126 are to stay open until December 2.

Stock is to be sold off from today as the administrators try to cover as much of the losses as possible.

First Quench operates around 1,200 stores across Scotland, England and Wales under its various brands and employs around 6,300 people.

Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG and the joint administrator, said the group's remaining stores would trade as normal.