Reprieve For BHS Staff As Final Store Closures Delayed

Administrators for BHS have announced plans to delay the closure of the doomed retailer's 57 remaining branches, delaying the redundancies of thousands of workers.

The chain was preparing to bring the shutters down nationwide for good on Saturday, but Duff & Phelps and FRP Advisory have now extended this closing date to 28 August.

It is possible that this deadline could be pushed back even further, guaranteeing a little extra pay for staff in these branches before they are made redundant.

Administrators are keeping the final 57 stores open until stock runs out in a last-ditch bid to maximise returns.

However, the extension has come too late for the 106 branches which have closed in recent weeks - including the flagship BHS store on Oxford Street, which ceased trading last Saturday.

Hundreds of opportunistic shoppers browsed the final shelves of heavily discounted stock on offer before the shutters came down for good at the expansive London branch.

Nationwide, red and yellow "everything must go" signs are littering shop floors - and some stores are even selling fixtures and fittings, including mannequins used to showcase the latest trends over the years.

The collapse of BHS in April has affected 11,000 jobs and 22,000 pensions, with a lengthy investigation by the Government launched into the retailer's £571m pension deficit.

Former owner Sir Philip Green, who has been accused by MPs (BSE: MPSLTD.BO - news) of selling BHS to a "manifestly unsuitable" buyer with no retail experience prior to its demise, is under intense pressure to plug the vast deficit in BHS's pension schemes (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .