A LEADING toy retailer is to close all 100 of its UK stores after administrators failed to find a buyer for the business.

25 Toys R Us outlets across the country will close tomorrow, with the remaining 75 stores to shut over the following weeks.

Blackburn’s Toys R Us store, located in The Mall, falls into the latter category and a date is yet to be announced.

Moorfields Advisory, the group appointed to oversee the administration process, said on Wednesday that it has not been possible to secure a sale.

Simon Thomas, joint administrator and partner at Moorfields, said: “We have made every effort to secure a buyer for all or part of the company’s business.

“This process attracted some interest, but ultimately no party has been able to move forward with a formal bid prior to the expiration of the stated deadline.

“It is therefore with great regret that we have made the difficult decision to make a number of positions redundant at the company’s head office in Maidenhead and proceed with a controlled store closure programme.”

Toys R Us is one of the UK’s leading toy retailers, employing more than 3,000 people across their stores in the UK.

The company has struggled with cash flow pressures after sales were squeezed by worse-than-expected trading over the Christmas period.

Co-director of Aston Centre for retail insights, Professor Heiner Evanschitzky, said: “A key problem for Toys R Us was a lack of clear focus: is it a big toy discount story for toys, a store with a vast assortment of toys, a leader in quality and service?

“They missed an opportunity to reposition themselves as an inspirational place to shop at. Consumers rightly asked why they should other going there instead of buying online.”