Ernst & Young sells more TJ Hughes stores

Lewis's Home Retail has acquired two outlets from the collapsed TJ Hughes portfolio in its second such deal.

Earlier this month Lewis's Home Retail, a sister company of wholesale firm the Benross Group, based in Liverpool, acquired four TJs stores and the TJHughes.co.uk website. The company has now acquired the Widnes and Newcastle stores, with all employees in these stores transferred to Lewis's Home Retail.

Anil Juneja, managing director of the Benross Group, said: "Both stores have a solid management structure in place and are well-loved by the local community. Widnes is ideally situated to continue TJ Hughes' reach in the North West, while the Newcastle store has a prominent city centre position. Both stores have strong growth potential."

He continued: "As with our previous four acquisitions, we're committed to safeguarding local jobs and rejuvenating the stores – both inside and out."

Tom Jack, joint administrator at Ernst & Young, said: "We are delighted to have completed another deal, which protects further jobs across the North and brings the total number of jobs saved to 576."

The joint administrators continue to seek a sale of the company's remaining business and assets as a going concern, whilst also trading stock through the group's remaining store portfolio. Promotional activity is continuing in all TJ Hughes stores.