A letter seen by The Daily Telegraph which is being sent to staff this week by Deloitte say the administrators will begin a “collective consultation programme” because of the “potential for redundancies” and the “possibility of a transfer of some or all of the Comet business”.
Comet, which was bought by private equity firm OpCapita for £2 less than a year ago, called in administrators earlier this month, putting at risk 6,611 jobs.
Around 330 jobs in head office were cut last week.
Staff still working for Comet fear that the start of consultations is to pave the way for mass lay-offs.
It is understood that a collection of businesses have expressed an interest in parts of Comet, but hopes of a saviour for the entire company and its 236 sites are fading. At present, Comet plans to halt its home delivery service this Sunday.
In the letter to employees, Deloitte says: “This [the consultation] is intended to offer a means to provide information about the company’s plans for the future, and for the representatives of the employees to raise questions, and air their views on any proposals, including on any redundancies or measures affecting employees whose employment may transfer to any potential buyer of all or part of the Comet business.
“The company will listen carefully to feedback and suggestions from your representatives before any final decisions are taken.”
A number of senior staff have already left Comet, including chief operating officer Carl Cowling
In an email to staff, Mr Cowling said: “You guys have done so well over the last year in difficult circumstances. We made our business leaner and more cost efficient.
“We learnt to cope with less stock. We became a strong team and we took the fight to the competition and saw our sales climb and market share rise. So many of you have put your hearts and souls into the Comet turnaround and it saddens me that it came to this.
“Don’t be too downhearted and look forward to the future.”
A spokesman for Deloitte said last night: “There are no imminent plans for store closures and further redundancies. The consultations are standard procedure.”
