The owners of Burnham-On-Sea’s Bargain Booze store have spoken out this week to reassure their customers.
Across the country, Bargain Booze is heading towards administration after it failed to raise £125m from an emergency cash call on Wednesday (March 28th).
However, a member of the Burnham High Street store’s team said on social media: “This store is a franchise. This means for the lovely people of Burnham we will simply choose another company to use their name and to buy stock from. You still have us to buy your goodies from.”
More than 2,500 jobs are at risk across the UK as the owner of Bargain Booze, Conviviality, suffered a string of profit warnings in recent weeks and revealed a £30m tax bill.
The firm, which is also a major supplier to chains like Wetherspoons, sought £125m from investors but said it had been unable to raise the cash.
It is now looking at other options, including a “potential sale of all or parts of the business”. If that fails the company is unlikely to be able to continue trading.
A statement from Convivialty read: “Despite a significant number of meetings with potential investors resulting in good levels of demand… there was ultimately insufficient demand to raise the full £125m.
“The board wishes to thank its customers, suppliers and employees for their continued support during this difficult period for the company. The company is in discussions with its lending banks and advisers regarding other possible options and is in receipt of a number of inbound enquiries regarding a potential sale of all or parts of the business.”
It is understood accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers is being lined up as administrator should a buyer not be found.
