Woolworths staff face bleak midwinter as Dragons Den saviour pulls out

The future of 30,000 Woolworths employees looks increasingly bleak after Dragons Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis pulled out of the race to buy parts of troubled retailer.

Paphitis said in a statement: “Unfortunately, the constituent parts of Woolworths are more valuable than the whole. The administrators have a difficult job to do and I appreciate that they need to get the highest cash value for the business.

“I hope that an alternative proposal succeeds in securing the future for the many Woolworths employees involved,” he added.

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Woolworths’ retail and wholesale operations went into administration last week, putting the jobs of 30,000 staff at risk. The company is set to begin slashing prices from today in an effort to clear stock in the run-up to Christmas.

Some reports also suggest that administrators Deloitte will start making head office redundancies from today. The high street stores will remain open until after Christmas at least.