Jessops shuts shops, cuts 1370 job

British camera retailer Jessops will close its remaining 187 branches and vanish from the high street with the loss of 1,370 jobs around the country, administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers announced on Friday. The dire news comes one day after Jessops collapsed into administration after struggling over the key Christmas trading period. "Since my appointment, we have reviewed the position of the business and held extensive discussions with suppliers around their support for ongoing trading," said PwC joint administrator and partner Rob Hunt in a statement. "It is apparent that we cannot continue to trade and as a result we have had to make the difficult decision to begin the closure of all 187 Jessops stores at the close of business today. "Regrettably, this will result in around 1,370 job losses across the stores with further job losses likely, in due course, at the head office in Leicester." Remaining stock would be collected over the coming days and be returned to suppliers if they are entitled to it, he added, while the group would no longer accept returned products. "This is an extremely sad day for Jessops and its employees. We are very grateful for the support we have received since our appointment and we will continue to ensure that employees are paid as they assist us during the closure," added Hunt. Jessops is the latest British retailer to fall into adminstration -- which is the process whereby a troubled company calls upon independent expert financial help in an attempt to remain operational. Britain's electrical retailers operating out of stores are facing dual pressure from tough economic conditions and online competition, analysts say. Retail chain Comet had collapsed into administration late last year and shut its doors for the last time in December.