Toys R Us makes redundancies, all shops expected to close in the next six weeks

Moorfields Advisory Limited yesterday confirmed via a press release that no buyer has been found for Toys R Us.

The administrators remain open to interest from potential buyers for parts of the business, but it has been necessary to make a total of 67 redundancies at the Company’s head office in Maidenhead earlier today.

25 stores have closed or will close today, with six weeks remaining for the rest of the country’s stores to complete stock clearance and closure – with losses of around 3,000 jobs. All staff affected have been informed and will be paid up to and including their last day of employment.

Toys R Us stocked a wide range of console hardware and software, though its sales weren’t part of the GfK Chart-track data, so it’s hard to estimate what percentage of the UK market it represented.

“We have made every effort to secure a buyer for all or part of the Company’s business," said Simon Thomas, joint administrator and partner at Moorfields, in the statement. "This process attracted some interest, but ultimately no party has been able to move forward with a formal bid prior to the expiration of the stated deadline."

“It is therefore with great regret that we have made the difficult decision to make a number of positions redundant at the Company’s head office in Maidenhead and proceed with a controlled store closure programme. We are grateful for the hard work of Toys R Us staff during this very difficult period and will be providing support where we can to those who have been made redundant,” Thomas continued.

“All of the remaining 75 Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores will remain open until further notice. We’re extending the nationwide discounting programme and would like to encourage customers to take advantage of the special offers available in store while stock levels remain high.”