Administrators remain hopeful that they can sell a significant number of stores from the former EFB Retail empire to their preferred bidder within the next month. The owner of Oddbins, Whittalls Wines Merchants and Wine Cellar Trading fell into administration in January 2019. It blamed Brexit, economic uncertainty and poor high street sales over the Christmas period. Administrators Duff & Phelps have been trading the…

Colchester-based wine merchant Mr Wheeler has rescued online retailer FromVineyardsDirect.com from administration by purchasing the business and its assets in a pre-pack deal. The firm entered administration earlier this month after experiencing financial difficulties. Joint administrators Lee De’ath and Richard Toone of CVR Global LLP managed to find a way forward for the business by facilitating the pre-pack sale to The Wine Company UK Ltd,…

Borough Wines has been bought out of administration in a pre-pack sale worth £58,760 after widening losses caused it to collapse on May 31. Muriel Chatel founded the business when she began selling wine from a market stall in the heart of London’s Borough Market back in 2002. The empire eventually expanded to nine stores selling beer, wine and spirits, while it built up a burgeoning…

The Oddbins off-licence chain has officially gone into administration, putting around 500 jobs at risk. The chain’s owner, European Food Brokers (EFB), said Brexit and the resulting economic uncertainty, along with poor high street sales over the Christmas period, were to blame for the situation. EFB’s other brands – Whittalls Wines Merchants and Wine Cellar Trading – are also affected. Duff & Phelps is the…

Bargain Booze has emerged from a tumultuous situation relatively unscathed and stock levels have returned to normal levels following Bestway’s takeover. Shelves were barren when parent company Conviviality plunged into administration, and Bestway’s first job after buying it was to get the supply chain back up and running. It also had to convince franchisees to stick with the group rather than defect…

Convenience store chain My Local, which was sold by Morrisons last September, is reported to be on the verge of collapse. Earlier this week My Local filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting almost 1,700 jobs at risk. Shortly after the announcement Morrisons said it would rehire former employees who may lose their jobs as a result of the expected administration of the…