‘Sad day’ for Phones 4u as 362 stores close with the loss of 1,700 jobs

A further 720 staff have been retained to assist with the closure programme, PwC said. It comes after Phones 4u went into administration last week following network operator EE’s decision not to renew its contract.

Following talks with Phones 4u staff last night, a PwC spokesman said: “It is a very sad day for the staff working at those locations and our thoughts are with them.”

Phones 4u had an annual turnover of £1bn, with more than 700 stores and a total of 5,596 employees.

But the firm collapsed as EE and Vodafone pulled out of long-standing deals to sell devices through the retailer.

Earlier yesterday, EE said it would buy 58 Phones 4u stores in a deal saving more than 350 jobs.

The agreement with administrator PwC comes after Vodafone said on Friday it would buy another 140 stores, safeguarding 887 jobs.

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

Rob Hunt, joint administrator and PwC partner, said: “It is with much regret that we have today made the difficult decision to close a large number of stores.

“It is a very sad day for the staff working at those locations and our thoughts are with them.

“We will make every effort to help the affected staff.”

Breakdowns of stores closing will be available today, administrators said.

PwC said last week that three parties were interested in buying the retailer’s standalone store estate.