Former Woolworths boss bids for stores

A former chief executive of Woolworths is making a bid for the retailer's stores, according to a report.

Sir Geoff Mulcahy, who ran Woolworths for nearly 20 years after buying it in 1982, has approached administrator Deloitte to buy around 500 of the retailer's 813 stores.

Sir Geoff told the Sun he is keen to save the Woolworths brand.

"You have 25,000 staff at Woolworths and there must be a way of trying to save this business," he said in an interview.

"It's late in the day - but there's still a possibility. We're considering a number of options."

The report said a hand-picked management team would run the chain and pay off the retailer's £350 million debt to its banks.

However, the Sun said Sir Geoff, who also founded Kingfisher and is chairman of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), may be disappointed.

An agreement is already thought to be in place to sell 50 of the branches to frozen food chain Iceland, while deals with other supermarkets and discounters have been set up for a further 350 stores.