Snooker halls shut as Rileys in trouble
Twenty-five snooker halls are to close after Rileys went into administration – but branches in Cannock and Wolverhampton have been saved, it emerged today.
The company is making 146 staff redundant after collapsing into administration.
But a pre-pack sale of the business to private investors rescues the remaining 625 staff and 78 clubs, including one in High Green, Cannock, and another in Broad Street, Wolverhampton.
It is the second time the Milton Keynes-based business has gone into administration in the last three years.
Rileys chief executive Maurice Kelly said the company had suffered cash flow and trading difficulties as the double-dip recession put pressure on consumer spending.
He said: "We have not been immune to those problems experienced by retailers."
Mr Kelly also blamed the failure on the smoking ban and changes to the Gambling Act which disadvantaged commercial snooker clubs.
But he said the buyout deal, brokered by KMPG, would see Riley's get "significant" investment from private sources.
At its peak in the 1980s the company had 165 clubs open across the United Kingdom.
