Borders staff may lose jobs on Christmas Eve Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8414862.stm

All 1,100 staff at book chain Borders will lose their jobs on Christmas Eve unless a buyer is found this week, the firm’s administrators have warned. MCR also said it was in “advanced talks” with a number of possible purchasers about the sale of some of Borders’ 45 UK outlets.

It said that any deals over the sale of shops had yet to be finalised. Borders went into administration on 26 November, before closing down sales were started three days later. MCR said that unless store sales are agreed this week, all 45 Borders and Books Etc shops will close on 22 December, with staff finishing work on 24 December.

Borders went into administration at the end of last month after coming under severe pressure from internet competitors and supermarkets during the recession. Waterstones owner HMV has repeatedly refused to comment on reports it is interested in buying some of the Borders shops.

The Borders chain was originally owned by the US book giant of the same name, but was sold in June 2007 to Risk Capital Partners, which is headed by Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson. Risk Capital then sold it on to the private equity firm Valco earlier this year.

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. Charles W. Eliot

Best Regards
ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM, UK

University of Oslo, Norway