Oddbins to go into administration

Wine retailer Oddbins is to go into administration after HM Revenue & Customs refused to back a potential rescue deal that involved restructuring its debts through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

The chain owes the tax office £8m which is about 30% of the company's overall debt. It has 89 stores left in the UK employing 400 staff. The stores will continue to trade while administrators are appointed.

The news follows the collapse of First Quench Retailing (Threshers) in 2009 and the Unwins off licence chain in 2005 and is another nail in the coffin of high street offies who can no longer compete with supermarkets and the internet.