Toy stores could start closing as early as next week, administrator says

It comes as hopes for finding a buyer for the stricken business fade.

The toy chain, which has a branch at Ocean Retail Park, in Copnor, Portsmouth, had appointed Moorfields Advisory to oversee administration last month after the firm failed to find a last-minute rescuer.

Moorfields said it would begin an ‘orderly wind-down’ of stores and it is now understood the insolvency specialist is poised to close the first batch as it runs down stock, with hundreds of jobs set to be lost. It is thought at least 26 loss-making stores will be closed first.

Moorfields said at the time of the chain’s collapse it is making ‘every effort’ to secure a buyer for all or part of the business, but sources indicated this was unlikely.

If no buyer emerges, then stores will be sold off piecemeal or closed down.

Toys R Us is one of the nation’s biggest toy retailers, employing 3,000 people across 100 stores in the UK.