Jobs going at electrical retailer

All Apollo stores will close with immediate effect administrators say

Up to 280 jobs are going at gas and electrical appliance retailer Apollo 2000 and a sister firm which have gone into administration, KPMG said.

Apollo 2000, a West Bromwich firm which is mainly based in the Midlands, has 12 stores and employs 180 people.

All stores will close with immediate effect and the majority of staff will be made redundant, administrators said.

KPMG said 92 other redundancies will be made at Arrow Distributors, which is based in Redditch, Worcestershire.

'Sad day'

KPMG director Will Wright said he urged "the small number of affected customers" of Apollo 2000 to use a customer helpline as soon as possible.

Mr Wright said: "The group has been adversely impacted by the downturn in the property market and the general decline in retail sales.

"Despite the directors' best efforts to secure a sale or refinancing of the group and its trading subsidiaries prior to our appointment, they have been unsuccessful.

"Therefore the directors were left with no alternative but to request the appointment of administrators.

"Following our appointment we have had no option but to cease trading these businesses immediately, regrettably resulting in a number of redundancies."

The two firms are both part of the Cranham Group plc. The only other trading subsidiary, Apuro Limited, is currently unaffected, KPMG added.

The administrators said Cranham Group chairman Nick Barrett described this as "a sad day" after 38 years.

The closed stores include sites in Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, Stoke-on-Trent and Cannock in Staffordshire and Worcester and Redditch in Worcestershire.

The other closed sites are at Gloucester and Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, Preston and Blackpool in Lancashire and Poole in Dorset.

KPMG was appointed as administrator to the two companies on Wednesday.