Budget high street retailer Alworths enters administration

A budget high street retailer that tried to pick up where a number of old Woolworths stores had left off has itself filed for administration.

Alworths Ltd jumped into the place of a number of stores formerly occupied by the iconic brand until it fell into administration in 2009. Alworths is itself, however, now in the control of administrators after falling victim to an apparent collapse in consumer confidence.

Corporate recovery, insolvency and restructuring specialist Leonard Curtis was appointed to handle the process on Monday. A spokesman for Leonard Curtis, Neil Bennett, said, "This is a business that operates in a very competitive market that has been badly affected by the recent downturn in consumer confidence experienced on the UK high street."

He confirmed that they were continuing to trade the company's 17 stores across the country, as they embarked on a search for a potential buyer. Mr Bennett said they were optimistic that they could secure the business - which had a turnover of £7.5 million in the year to December 2010 - and safeguard job security for the current employees.

Alworths Ltd was created by Woolworths' ex Head of Store and Concessions Development, Andy Latham, with a team of 15 former colleagues from the company, running it from a base in Redhill, Surrey. It followed a similar model to Woolworths, retailing a mix of branded toys, sweets, homeware, stationery, seasonal and garden products, as well as haberdashery and household convenience purchase.

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