Significant interest in ChoicesUK buyout, says administrator

The company handling ChoicesUK’s administration has told MCV that it has already been contacted by a handful of businesses interested in acquiring the retail and distribution firm.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed as joint administrator of ChoicesUK last week.

A company spokesperson added that a date for a creditors’ meeting was yet to be set – and that PWC could not disclose names of interested parties.

Joint administrator Nick Cropper added:

Our priority now is to work with management, employees, customers and suppliers to continue to trade the businesses. We are looking to be as flexible as possible in trying to save the business… I am optimistic that we will be able to find a buyer for the business.”

Last Tuesday, MCV revealed that ChoicesUK was looking for an administrator. Company directors had hoped the business could be sold or re-financed but recent attempts had failed.

The Guardian reported that the company was saddled with 13m debts – and that creditors including Lloyds TSB had been ‘getting impatient’. The newspaper predicted that the move ‘threatened 1,800 jobs’.