Gadget Shop looking for buyer
65-store chain to appoint administrators
The Gadget Shop is hoping for a buyer to step in after confirming reports that it is to appoint administrators.
A plan to save the 65-store chain has failed after shareholders who own 40 per cent of the firm rejected a rescue plan put together by executive chairman Chris Gorman. Accountants PKF are expected to be appointed on Monday.
The Gadget Shop employs 700 staff and is understood to have debts of several mlllion pounds. A spokesman told the BBC: “It is extremely regrettable that The Gadget Shop has to be placed into administration by Tuesday, adding that Gorman’s priority is “for the staff and he will be working hard with the administrator to find a buyer.”
Gorman is said to have had the support of Scottish retail entrepreneur Tom Hunter. The pair have a combined shareholding of 50 per cent with Gadget Shop founder Jonathan Elvidge holding 10 per cent.
The [i]Sunday Times [/i]reported that Freeserve founder Peter Wilkinson and City trader John Wood, who own the remaining 40 per cent, opposed Gorman’s plans.
