Failure puts off-licence jobs at risk

It also owns convenience store chains The Local and Haddows.

In Shropshire there is a Threshers store in Oswestry and there are also The Local stores in Shrewsbury and Telford. Threshers stores in Shifnal and Market Drayton are understood to have closed some months ago.

First Quench is said to have struggled amid fierce competition for drink sales from superstores.

The owner of the high street chain confirmed the appointment of KPMG as administrator, but said it hoped to preserve "as many jobs as possible" by securing a sale as a going concern.

KPMG said the business - which employs 6,500 people including 3,000 full-time workers - would operate as normal while it sought a sale and staff wages would be paid next week as planned.

News of the group's administration leaked out last night before company staff were informed.

A First Quench spokesman said: "It is with great regret that the board was not able to brief our colleagues prior to it being made public in the media."

But there was good news for the economy today when the Nationwide Building Society revealed the average value of a UK house rose to £162,038 after six months in a row of rises, helping prices grow year-on-year by two per cent in October.

But the data showed a slowdown in the monthly pace of increase following the buoyant summer, down from 0.9 per cent in September and 1.4 per cent in both July and August.

Nationwide said the ease in monthly growth may signal that more properties are coming on to the market.