The weekend papers were dominated by the news that BHS was on the brink of collapse, with up to 11,000 jobs facing the axe (The Sunday Mail). The department store’s owner, Retail Acquisitions, a consortium led by Dominic Chappell, sought emergency funding to stay in business but told The Telegraph: “At the moment it doesn’t look good.”

The Financial Times noted that the chances of Sports Direct emerging as a white knight seemed to be fading on Sunday. Two people familiar with the matter told the paper that Sports Direct was also considering acquiring the company outright, but one person close to the talks said it was “highly unlikely” to proceed with any deal. The paper added BHS suffered a delay in receiving a crucial £60m loan, jeopardising a rescue package it won from creditors last month.

The Sunday Times writes that a rescue deal was scuppered by the massive pension debt. Sir Philip Green, who sold BHS for £1 to Chappell last year and remains one of its biggest lenders, last week he refused to back a last-ditch cash injection lined up by the new owner, dismissing it as inadequate.

The Guardian points out the collapse of the department store chain would be the biggest failure on the high street since the demise of Woolworths in 2008. This morning, The FT reports that Dominic Chappell said in a letter to staff that the directors of the company would call in administrators on Monday after being “unable to secure a funder or a trade sale”.

As BHS teetered on the brink, The Observer published a feature asking “Where have all Britain’s shoppers gone?” examining a huge drop in footfall on the high street.

One of the biggest shareholders in Premier Foods has blasted its board over “corporate arrogance” as the fallout from the McCormick failed bid continues, The Sunday Times reports. US hedge fund giant Paulson said it would support ousting Premier chairman David Beever over the affair.

A successful bid by Wyevale Garden Centres, owned by private equity firm Terra Firma, to buy rival Dobbies would put hundreds of jobs at risk, sources have told The Mail on Sunday. Wyevale is trying to buy Dobbies from Tesco, which is selling non-essential assets to allow it to focus on its core supermarket business.

The Sunday Times has a story about another non-core Tesco asset. The paper says the owner of Bella Italia and Café Rouge is set to fight it out with entrepreneur Luke Johnson in the race to buy the restaurant chain Giraffe.

Co-op chairman Allan Leighton has called for the mutual’s members to back a deep pay cut for its chief executive (The Sunday Telegraph). He Leighton wants the 2.5m eligible voters to back proposals at Co-op’s annual meeting on 21 May to support a cut in boss Richard Pennycook’s base salary from £1.25m to £750,000.

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