Thousands of jobs are under threat if attempts to sell historic department store Debenhams fail.
Bosses at the 242-year-old chain have appointed Hilco Capital in the event that attempts to sell the store end in failure.
Debenhams employs around 14,000 people across 120 stores in the UK.
According to Sky News, sources close to the company have described Hilco’s role as ‘contingency planning’ for the future of chain as it approaches the pre-Christmas trading period.
If the chain does enter liquidation, it could spark the biggest single loss of jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The chain store has been in administration since April.
It had hoped to complete a sale by the end of September.
BREAKING: Debenhams's owners have begun drawing up plans for the liquidation of the department store chain in a move that could trigger the single-biggest jobs cull of the #coronavirus pandemic.
Latest on this breaking story: https://t.co/rl2R6LioDM pic.twitter.com/srOMfFiYtJ
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) August 15, 2020
