Bathstore has gone into administration affecting 531 employees as stores across the country are expected to close.

The chain operates out of 135 stores, which are now all at risk of closure.

An inside source has said the announcement was made internally this morning (26th) following an announcement the bathroom retailer had lost money.

Ryan Grant, BDO business restructuring partner, said: "Despite significant investment into the business over the past five years, Bathstore has struggled to overcome the well-documented challenges facing the UK retail sector.

"The appointment was made after several months of difficult trading, and the failure of ongoing talks to find a buyer for the business. Bathstore is continuing to trade in administration whilst the administrators seek a buyer."

The bathroom retailer will continue to trade while administrators at BDO seek a buyer.

It was reported last week that Bathstore had been hit by the devaluation of the pound in 2016 and a collapse of consumer confidence in 2017.

Now an insider has said its 168 nationwide stores are thought to be at risk of closure, following a loss of millions of pounds for the past two years.

Bathstore was set up in 1990 by Patrick Riley and Nico de Beer.

Its company headquarters are in Welwyn Garden City in England, though it has been owned by billionaire Warren Stephens since 2014.

The company is currently having an 80% off stock clearance sale online.

The Bathstore branches at risk

East Anglia

• Cambridge
• Huntingdon
• Ipswich
• Norwich
• Peterborough

East Midlands

• Bedford
• Burton On Trent
• Leicester
• Lincoln
• Northampton
• Nottingham Bridgeford
• Nottingham Commodore

Greater London

• Beckenham
• Croydon
• Enfield
• Ilford
• Kingston Upon Thames
• Orpington
• Ruislip
• Southgate
• Staines
• Surbiton
• Sutton
• Walton-On-Thames

London

• Borehamwood
• North Finchley
• Wandsworth
• Finchley Road
• Hammersmith
• Islington
• Clapham South
• Baker Street
• Vauxhall
• Eltham
• Richmond
• Wandsworth
• Wimbledon

North

• Barnsley
• Carlisle
• Chesterfield
• Doncaster
• Gateshead
• Grimsby
• Harrogate
• Huddersfield
• Hull
• Leeds
• Newcastle Upon Tyne
• Scunthorpe
• Sheffield
• Shipley
• Stockton
• York

North West

• Bolton
• Burnley
• Bury
• Cheshire
• Chester
• Crewe
• Eastham
• Lancaster
• Liverpool
• Sale
• Southport
• St Helens
• Stockport
• Warrington
• Wigan

Scotland

• Aberdeen
• Ayr
• Dundee
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow Clarkston
• Glasgow Central
• Inverness
• Perth
• Stirling

South East

• Ashford
• Aylesbury
• Banbury
• Basildon
• Basingstoke
• Bognor Regis
• Braintree
• Brighton
• Camberley
• Canterbury
• Chelmsford
• Crawley
• Dartford
• East Grinstead
• Eastbourne
• Farnborough
• Fleet
• Grays
• Guildford
• Harlow
• Haywards Heath
• Hemel Hempstead
• High Wycombe
• Hitchin
• Horsham
• Luton
• Maidstone
• Milton Keynes
• Newbury
• Oxford
• Portsmouth
• Reading central
• Reading The Point
• Redhill
• Slough
• Southampton
• Southend
• St Albans
• Thanet
• Tunbridge Wells
• Waterlooville
• Winchester
• Worthing

South West

• Bath
• Bournemouth
• Bristol Filton
• Bristol Clifton
• Cheltenham
• Chippenham
• Christchurch
• Exeter
• Gloucester
• Plymouth
• Saint Austell
• Swindon
• Taunton
• Weymouth

Wales

• Bangor
• Cardiff
• Cardiff Penarth
• Newport

West Midlands

• Birmingham
• Cannock
• Hereford
• Leamington Spa
• Newcastle Under Lyme
• Nuneaton
• Redditch
• Solihull
• Stafford
• Stourbridge
• Stratford Upon Avon
• Sutton Coldfield
• Worcester

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