LONDON (Reuters) - A small British supermarket chain that trades under the Budgens brand has fallen into administration, leading to the loss of around 800 jobs, the firm handling the process said on Tuesday.
Food Retailer Operations Ltd runs 34 stores across the UK as Budgens and employs 815 people. It bought the network from larger retailer, the Co-Operative <42TE.L>.
"Since its acquisition of the stores from Co-op in July 2016, the company had experienced difficult trading conditions," administrator PWC said in a statement.
"This resulted in the company being placed into administration despite sustained efforts to make the business more commercially viable."
Budgens is a network of stores run locally by independent retailers and supplied by Booker (L:BOK), the leading wholesaler that is being bought by Tesco (L:TSCO). The remainder of the Budgens stores will not be affected.