Poor old Peacocks could be about to have its metaphorical tail feathers hacked off, with administration looming after equity and holders decided they’ve had enough of all the nonsense.

The retailer has almost 700 stores in the UK with almost 9,000 employees, but poor sales and trading losses have seen things go horribly wrong of late. Peacocks also own the Bon Marche chain of clothes stores, but this is expected to be sold early this week, in a separate deal.

Meanwhile, in some better news, it is believed that 84 Barratts and Priceless shops have been saved by former Chief Executive Michael Ziff, saving as many as 1,100 jobs. Sadly, a similar number of shops have not been saved and are expected to close immediately.