Most Thresher stores still shut

A YEAR after Threshers went bust less than a third of its 1,400 stores have been reopened as off-licences, according to administrators .Only 400 of the stores were sold, with the majority being bought by small off-licence chains, and the other 1,000 returned to landlords, said accountancy giant KPMG, which is still working on the administration.

The national off-licence business model has been weak- ened by competition from supermarkets who with their immense buying power can sell alcohol cheaper than anyone else.

First Quench Retailing (FQR), which owned the Threshers, Wine Rack, Victoria Wine, Bottoms Up and Haddows fascia, went into administration with the loss of 6,300 jobs.

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Unsecured creditors still owed money by FQR, including alcohol giant Diageo, lost a total of 41m when it collapsed and are expected to get 1.4p in the pound back.

Some of the names which traded on the high street will live on.

The Threshers, Bottoms Up, The Local and Victoria Wine brands were sold to a small property and discount stores business, SEP Properties, in the West Midlands which said at the time it intended to open an internet wine business and a chain of off-licences.The Wine Rack name was bought by London-based Venus Wine and Spirits and can still be found on high streets in the South East.

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