Fire sales at closing First Quench

The closure of Threshers and Wine Rack stores will result in 1,738 redundancies

A giant booze sale has begun after Threshers and Wine Rack stores earmarked for closure launched "very substantial" discounts.

Fire sales at affected stores in the off-licence group First Quench - which also owns The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine - come a day after administrators announced the closure of 373 outlets.

The store closures will result in 1,738 redundancies.

Products will be heavily discounted as administrator KPMG looks to run down stock levels as the stores head for closure towards the beginning of next month.

It is understood administrators decided to launch the sale on Friday to catch the start of the festive shopping season as consumers begin to stock up for Christmas entertaining.

A spokeswoman for KPMG said the discounts would be "very substantial" although administrators were not revealing the exact level of discounting.

First Quench collapsed into administration last month after struggling amid fierce competition for drink sales from supermarkets.

KPMG said 247 of the First Quench stores being closed will trade until November 25, while a further 126 are to stay open until December 2.

Administrators said the closures affected stores across First Quench's range of brands and regions. The firm currently operates around 1,200 stores across Scotland, England and Wales under its various brands and employs about 6,300 people.

KPMG said the group's remaining stores were trading well and would continue to operate as normal until a sale of the business could be achieved.