Kwik Save faces the end

Supermarket workers were awaiting the outcome of a court hearing that will decide the fate of the firm, which employs 4,000 people at 220 stores. Thousands of staff were not paid on time at the weekend.

Lawyers for Kwik Save were today trying to convince a judge to let the company enter a period of administration.

Kwik Save has branches in Wolverhampton, Wednesbury, Warley, Smethwick, Tipton, Great Bridge, Gornal, Netherton and Cannock.

Today's court hearing in Manchester is said to want to see evidence that sufficient funding is in place to give Kwik Save a reasonable chance of surviving.

Administrators from accountants Grant Thornton are waiting to step in to run the business if they get the go-ahead.

Supermarket workers were due to be paid on Thursday but when their wages failed to materialise, shop workers union USDAW stepped in.

Union spokesman Paul Clarke said: "We wrote to the company pointing out their obligations and they undertook to ensure all staff were paid on Friday or by Saturday at the latest."

The firm said the wage delay was a "temporary glitch", blaming disruption after the completion of a £50 million re-financing deal.

Kwik Save was split off from Somerfield last year, when it was sold to a group of investors named Back to the Future, led by former Peacock Group chief executive Richard Kirk. But it has been beset by problems and many stores have had empty shelves because suppliers owed money withheld goods.

The manager of Kwik Save in Peartree Lane, Dudley, who refused to be named, said staff had heard nothing of the planned closures. "I would be surprised, because sales are actually up here," he said.