Jobs are at risk at Budget DIY stores

About 187 jobs are at risk and the BBC understands that enough money was taken at the tills on Monday for the stores to continue to trade on Tuesday.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers said attempts by the owners of Budget DIY to find a buyer proved unsuccessful.

Garth Calow of the firm said the situation was precarious.

He said their immediate objective was to determine the financial position and ensure staff were paid.

"We are resolving matters on the ground to ensure staff are paid what they are due. But Budget DIY has substantial creditors and little cash," he said.

"The company has increasingly relied on sales income from the individual stores with limited stock, and has recently been operating on a day-to-day basis.

"Things are very difficult and funding is extremely limited, but I believe the situation will become clearer over the next 24 hours.

Closing down signs

"The immediate future will be determined by revenues generated by the Budget DIY retail units."

There has been no confirmation of job losses or store closures. However, there are "closing down sale" signs at Budget's Belfast and Bangor stores.

Staff were given a management statement on Friday when the administrators were brought in.

They were given no indication about jobs and they said they had been told not to comment officially.

Some staff members said they felt angry and upset at the way matters had been handled.

One member of staff said they had been told they would get 24 hours' notice of any job losses.

Budget, founded in 1983, has six stores across Northern Ireland including Bangor, east and west Belfast, Newtownabbey and Londonderry.

In recent years Budget DIY had suffered significant losses as a result of growing competition.

In March 2006, the share capital of the company was acquired by Star Trading Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Manchester-based Hilco Group.