Threshers and Wine Rack group goes into administration

First Quench Retailing, owners of Thresher and Wine Rack, has confimed it is going into administration. 81 staff at the head office have been made redundant but store closures have yet to be announced. The off-licence chain has more than 1,000 stores and employs around 6,000 people.

The news follows months of speculation about the future of the business, which had been incurring huge losses. Adminstrators KPMG are hoping so sell the business as a going concern and preserve as many jobs as possible. With the off licence sector facing aggressive competition from the supermarkets and the recession putting more strain on business the future of the off licence model is far from certain.