Convenience chain McColl's has collapsed into administration, leaving the future of Wiltshire's 13 stores at risk.

The retailer was in talks with potential lenders to help strengthen up the company, which struggled during the pandemic to supply chain challenges, inflation, and a large debt load. There was also a last-ditch effort by Morrisons to save the chain.

But in the end the company confirmed “the lenders made clear that they were not satisfied that such discussions would reach an outcome acceptable to them”.

It puts a total of 1,100 shops and 16,000 jobs at risk.

In Wiltshire, there are McColl's convenience stores in the likes of Chippenham, Melksham, Swindon, Trowbridge, Corsham, Westbury, Netheravonn and Amesbury, putting dozens of jobs at risk.

Wiltshire Times:

The company will now appoint administrators from PwC in an effort to “preserve the future of the business and to protect the interests of employees”.

The company said it hopes that the administrators will help to “implement a sale of the business to a third-party purchaser as soon as possible”.

It is understood that Morrisons is still interested in a takeover, while Sky News has reported that forecourt giant EG Group is interested in a deal.

Earlier on Friday, Morrisons tabled a rescue deal which would also take on the business as a going concern, absorb its debts of over £100 million and take responsibility for the company’s pension scheme.

The two businesses are major partners, with McColl’s operating hundreds of convenience shops under the Morrisons Daily brand.

McColl’s has struggled financially in recent years after witnessing soaring costs due to supply chain disruption, inflation and its large debt burden.

On Thursday evening, McColl’s had said it was in talks over “potential financing solutions” to resolve its funding issues.

Shares in McColl’s were suspended earlier this week after the company delayed the publication of its latest financial results due to its financing talks.

Bryan Roberts, a retail analyst at Shopfloor Insights, has also said: “McColl’s should have had a good pandemic but it does not have a full range and its pricing is out of kilter. It is somewhere you go because you have to, not because you want to.”

Sky News has also reported that Morrisons has pitched a last-ditch rescue deal for ailing convenience retailer McColl’s.

Morrisons reportedly put out a plan on Thursday evening that would see the convenience store chain's lenders fully repaid and its pension system safeguarded.