Administrators at My Local have sold 26 of the failed retailer’s convenience stores since being appointed, with hopes to offload another 16 in the coming days and weeks.

The disposals to a number of convenience store operators have saved the jobs of 372 staff so far, KPMG said today.

The Grocer reported last week that Blakemore Retail snapped up seven of the sites, while trade partner Eat 17 picked up the store in Whitstable. The Co-op took another six shops and McColl’s, which is currently building up its convenience estate as part of a new strategy, bought two stores.

All stores are expected to be up and running in the coming weeks with the former staff keeping their jobs.

Mark Orton and Blair Nimmo from KPMG were appointed as joint administrators to MLCG Ltd, which traded as My Local, on 29 June. Following their appointment, Gregory Palfrey, Gilbert Lemon and Paul Wood of recovery firm Smith & Williamson took charge of ML Convenience Ltd and ML Stores Ltd, which held the leases on My Local’s stores.

KPMG partner Mark Orton said: “From the outset of our appointment, there has been strong interest shown in certain My Local stores, reflecting the demand for high quality retail space in prime town centre locations.

“Working closely with the team at Smith & Williamson, we are therefore delighted to have been able to safeguard the future of 26 stores and moreover, the jobs of 372 staff. Over the coming days and weeks, we are hopeful of concluding a further 16 sales and will provide an update in due course.”

My Local operated 125 stores and employed 1,658 people across the UK. The sale of two sites were concluded before KPMG were appointed but most stores have since closed resulting in a significant number of redundancies.

My Local has been trading for less than a year after buying 130 M Local stores from Morrisons for £25m last September. The retailer is run by industry veteran Mike Greene and was backed by private investment firm Greybull Capital. At the end of June, Greene issued an apology to staff after the company finally fell into administration.

A full list of the sold stores and jobs saved are:

Banbury (7)
Barking (8)
Bath Twerton 1(4)
Benfleet (11)
Blackpool Warley (14)
Bristol Gloucester Road (14)
Bristol Portishead (13)
Bristol White Ladies (17)
Cardiff Cow (14)
Chatham (14)
Croydon (17)
Ealing (16)
Eastbourne (17)
Lambeth (17)
Leigh On Sea (13)
Nottingham Railway (26)
Rhyl (11)
Rugeley (13)
Steeton (13)
Stockport Didsbury (15)
Widnes (Upton) (18)
Windermere (13)
Witham (15)
Whitstable (14)
Wokingham (13)
Wroughton (15)

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