900 jobs saved in deal over Phones 4u

However, administrator PwC said it had failed to prevent 628 redundancies among head office and telesales staff at Phones 4u’s Staffordshire offices.

PwC is continuing talks with other parties regarding the purchase of assets and said it planned to retain a further 400 head office staff to assist with its work. It will release details of the 140 stores in the Vodafone deal on Monday.

The collapse of Phones 4u, which went into administration on Monday following EE’s decision not to renew its contract, affected 5,600 workers at 560 Phones 4u stores and a further 160 concession outlets.

Dixons Carphone said on Wednesday it would take on the 800 staff who worked at 160 Phones 4u sites within Currys/PC World stores.

And following an approach from PwC, Vodafone UK said tonight it had decided to make an offer to buy 140 of the stores in order to accelerate its retail expansion programme and save hundreds of jobs.

It said: “Our offer was accepted by the administrator and we are pleased to report that approximately 900 former Phones 4u employees will keep their jobs and join our dynamic retail business.

“Subject to court approval, we will start engaging with these employees and begin the rebranding of the stores to Vodafone as soon as possible.”