Toys R Us to close all 100 UK stores with loss of 3,000 jobs

Staff told that no buyer has been found for toy chain that collapsed into administration last month

All 100 Toys R Us stores in the UK will close within six weeks with the loss of 3,000 jobs after administrators failed to find a buyer.

Toys R Us collapsed into administration last month and launched a nationwide closing down sale in a bid to bring in some cash.

The toy chain appointed Moorfields as administrators at the end of February but no buyer was found by a deadline of midday on Wednesday, meaning that all stores will shut. Moorfields said 67 staff at Toys R US' headquarters in Maidenhead were made redundant on Wednesday.

A total of 25 stores already earmarked for closure as part of a failed rescue package will shut by tomorrow, with the remaining 75 outlets closing in the next six weeks.

Simon Thomas, joint administrator and partner at Moorfields, said there had been "some interest" in buying Toys R Us but ultimately no party was in a position to do a deal before Wednesday's deadline.

Mr Thomas added: “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.”

“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.”

Toys R Us is one of a slew of high street names to have been hit by a cocktail of rising inflation, increasing business rates, a hike in minimum wages and the surging popularity of online competitors such as Amazon.

Maplin also recently went into administration and New Look announced last week that it was cutting hundreds of jobs.

Many of Toys R Us’s small stores have proved relatively resilient in recent years and the company’s online performance has been robust too. But the bigger, warehouse-style outlets, opened in the 1980s and 90s, have become expensive to run, placing a heavy burden on the balance sheet.

Customers will still be able to take advantage of discounts across the Toys R Us range in stores that remain open.

Stores that remain open until further notice:

The Lanes Shopping Centre, Carlisle

Craigleith Retail Park, Edinburgh

Glasgow The Forge, Glasgow

Helen Street, Glasgow

Thistle Marches Shopping Centre, Stirling

Metro Retail Park, Gateshead

The Kingsway Park, Dundee

The Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland

Teesside Retail Park, Teesside

Castle Court Shopping Centre, Belfast

Deepdale Retail Park, Preston

The Mall, Blackburn

Sprucefield Park, Lisburn

Union Square, Aberdeen

Gelderd Road, Leeds

Paisley Street, Liverpool

Europa Boulevard, Warrington

Central Retail Park, Manchester

Ings Road, Wakefield

Peel Centre Trading Park, Stockport

Chester Retail Park, Chester

Broughton Retail Park, Broughton

Frenchgate Shopping Centre, Doncaster

Meadowhall Retail Park, Sheffield

Kingston Park, Hull

Spire Walk Business Park, Chesterfield

Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent

St. Peter's Retail Park, Mansfield

Queens Retail Park, Stafford

Wyvern Way, Derby

The Sidings, Lincoln

Victoria Centre, Nottingham

Riverside Park, Nottingham

Merry Hill Retail Centre, Dudley

Wolverhampton Road, Oldbury

Highcross Shopping Centre, Leicester

Oakenshaw Road, Solihull

Cross Point Business Park, Coventry

Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough

Weston Favell Centre, Northampton

Towcester Road, Northampton

Castle Quay Shopping Centre, Banbury

St Ann Road, Gloucester

The Leisure Plaza, Milton Keynes

Interchange Retail Park, Bedford

Parc Tawe, Swansea

Botley Road, Oxford

Cribbs Causeway, Bristol

Queens Arcade, Cardiff

Westwick Street, Norwich

Oxford Road, Swindon

Gipsy Lane, Luton

Roaring Meg, Stevenage

Eden Shopping Centre, High Wycombe

Queensgate Centre, Harlow

Intu Uxbridge Shopping Centre, Uxbridge

Reading Gateway, Reading

Great Cambridge Road, Enfield

Brent Cross, Brent Cross

London Road, Ipswich

Elmsleigh Shopping Centre, Staines Upon Thames

Whiteleys Shopping Centre, Bayswater, London

Newbury Park, Ilford

Church Street, Woking

Priory Retail Park, Colliers Wood, London

Bell Green Retail Park, Sydenham

Southernhay, Basildon

Trojan Way, Croydon

Shopping Centre, Bromley

Lakeside Retail Park, Thurrock

Western Esplanade, Southampton

Horsted Retail Park, Medway

Nuffield, Poole

Ocean Park, Portsmouth

Goldstone Retail Park, Brighton

Stores included in the closure programme and their respective closure dates:

Aberdeen - Wednesday 14th March

Basingstoke - Wednesday 7th March

Belfast - Tuesday 13th March

Birmingham - Sunday 11th March

Bolton - Thursday 15th March

Bradford - Thursday 15th March

Brislington - Tuesday 13th March

Cambridge - Saturday 10th March

Cardiff - Thursday 15th March

Derry City - Monday 12th March

Doncaster - Saturday 10th March

East Kilbride - Sunday 11th March

Exeter - Friday 9th March

Hayes - Wednesday 7th March

Kirkcaldy - Monday 12th March

Leicester - Saturday 10th March

Livingston - Tuesday 13th March

Old Kent Road - Thursday 8th March

Plymouth - Friday 9th March

Scunthorpe - Friday 9th March

Shrewsbury - Monday 12th March

Tamworth - Friday 9th March

Tunbridge Wells - Thursday 8th March

Watford - Saturday 10th March

York - Monday 12th March