Toys ‘R’ Us is one of the biggest toy retailers in the UK, but insiders have said the chain is set to announce a mass of closures across the country.
According to Sky News, the board of Toys ‘R’ Us’s UK subsidiary will announce the launch of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).
A CVA is a mechanism enabling companies to organise their funding and operations while enjoying protection from their creditors.
This means around 25 of the 105 British shops face closure – although the move will require the approval of a 74 per cent majority of the company’s creditors.
It is thought the company will make this announcement on Monday. Express.co.uk contact Toys ‘R’ Us for comment today.
Their spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on market speculation. Stores are open, and our focus right now is on the busy Christmas weeks ahead.”
A closure of this scale would result in the loss of hundreds of the 3200 jobs, Sky News speculated.
The brand has had a tough year across the world, with the American and Canadian branches filing for bancruptcy in September.
The retail giant announced its north American arm is seeking “Chapter 11 protection” from the US Bankruptcy court.
On its website it stated its 1,600 Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us locations would operate “as usual”, and that it would work with its investors to address roughly $5billion in debt.
The move was made to allow the company to restructure its business so it could tackle its debts.
It has been a bad couple of days for the UK high street, with RBS and Homebase both losing branches over the last few days.
RBS, an Edinburgh-based bank, is risking over 1000 jobs in total after they announced 180 more closures in March. It follows Lloyds Banking Group, which announced it will close 49 branches on Wednesday.
In the move to a online banking based model UK banks are set to close a record amount of branches this year alone.
Reuters reported in August that 762 bank branches across the UK will close in 2017.
RBS will close 197 Natwest branches in total, with only 744 left across the whole of the UK.