One of Britain’s largest convenience store chains is nearing the brink of collapse, with thousands of jobs said to be at risk.
McColl’s – which employs more than 16,000 people, and has several stores throughout Greater Manchester and the North West – said it was “increasingly likely” that it would fall into administration unless talks around a rescue deal were successful, Sky News reports.
The 1,400-store McColl’s Group – which has an extensive wholesale partnership with Morrisons, as well as Martin’s newsagents – has always had strategy centred around an image of a “neighbourhood retailer”, but after suffering unprecedented difficulties throughout and post the COVID-19 pandemic, has issued a statement saying administrators could be called in today.
The company said in its statement that without any fresh funding in the short-term, the group would likely “be placed into administration with the objective of achieving a sale of the group to a third-party purchaser and securing the interests of creditors and employees”.
The chain added that it wanted to create a “stable platform for the business going forward”, but also stressed that discussions were still ongoing.
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McColl’s said it was “increasingly likely” that would fall into administration / Credit: McColl’s
McColl’s said in a statement to Sky News: “As previously disclosed on 25 April 2022, the Group remains in discussions regarding potential financing solutions for the business to resolve short term funding issues and create a stable platform for the business going forward.
“However, whilst no decision has yet been made, McColl’s confirms that unless an alternative solution can be agreed in the short term, it is increasingly likely that the Group would be placed into administration with the objective of achieving a sale of the Group to a third-party purchaser and securing the interests of creditors and employees.
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“Even if a successful outcome is achieved, it is likely to result in little or no value being attributed to the Group’s ordinary shares.”
According to Sky News, the company’s imminent collapse is expected to spark renewed interest in a partial takeover from both Morrison’s and EG Group – the petrol retailing giant owned by TDR Capital and the billionaire Blackburn-based brothers, Mohsin and Zuber Issa.
McColl’s employs more than 16,000 people at 1,400 stores across the UK / Credit: McColl’s
News that the McColl’s is teetering on the brink of collapse this week comes after it was revealed that the group’s shares have collapsed this year, and the entire company is now worth less than £3.5 million, with the company said to be carrying debts of almost £170 million.
Jonathan Miller, McColl’s recently-departed chief executive, said in December 2021 that the financial year had “undoubtedly been a tough year for the business”.
Mr Miller is understood to have personally invested £3 million last year in a bid to convince other shareholders to support the company.
If McColl’s is forced into administration this week, it would be the largest insolvency in the UK retail sector by size of workforce since the collapse of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group in 2020, Sky News said.
It would become the latest in a long line of casualties of changing retail shopping habits and the pandemic.
Featured Image – McColl’s
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his stake in Manchester United
Danny Jones
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his investment in Manchester United Football Club, taking his current stake from 27.7% to 28.94%.
The Failsworth-born billionaire officially became a minority shareholder in Man United earlier this year, bringing in the Sports arm of his INEOS petrochemical company and plenty of new personnel with him following an initial £1.25 billion acquisition which saw him buy over a quarter of the club.
While his tenure at Old Trafford has been a somewhat turbulent affair so far – having pleased most fans by taking at least some control away from the family but making a number of less-than-popular decisions of late – he is, at the very least, putting lots of money where his mouth is.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has injected a further $100m into Manchester United and now owns 28.94% of the club. This completes a planned $300m investment pledged at the time of purchase. $200m was paid back then out of Ratcliffe’s personal funds.
As per multiple outlets, the 72-year-old has pumped a further of approximately £79.3m into Man United to increase his overall stake just before the end of the year.
This latest figure payment was actually promised as part of his initial partial takeover which was completed back in February, with a filing listed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirming the final payment this week, with Ratcliffe receiving additional shares in return.
It also detailed that the ownership of the shares has transferred from Ratcliffe personally to the INEOS Group as a whole, who also have stakes in French football club OGC Nice, the INEOS Grenaiders cycling team (formerly Team Sky), as well as Formula 1, sailing, rugby and more.
Although supporters will be pleased to hear that Ratcliffe is committed to investing in the club, Keegan’s article details that the money itself won’t be strictly put towards any potential signings in the upcoming transfer window.
Similarly, Press Associates (PA) understand that the funds will be put towards infrastructure rather than player recruitment, as it is also expected that some squad members could be offloaded this January.
Could Man United’s homegrown number 10 really be on his way out after nearly two decades in red?
News of Ratcliffe increasing his United stake won’t do much for many of his early detractors, however, as the Greater Manchester local has been accused of ‘forgetting his roots’ and ‘betraying the working class’ with some recent internal steps.
Most recently, Sir Jim and his newly rebuilt executive board received immense backlash for increasing ticket prices for remaining games this season to a whopping £66 across the board, with no concessions made for young, old or disabled fans.
With sporting director Dan Ashworth having been dismissed after just five months – a man who spent just as much time on gardening leave at his former club as he did in his actual role at United – it’s fair to say Ratcliffe and co. could have been more economical.
Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year
Emily Sergeant
Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.
With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.
Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.
But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.
The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.
A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph
By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.
To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.
When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.
After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.
On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.
Emily Sergeant -
6th May 2022 
