It will see stores close and the potential loss of 12,000 jobs.

The retailers administrators f R P Advisory said the decision to wind down Debenhams came after it failed to find a buyer.

It had been in talks to fellow UK firm JD Sports Fashion for a rescue takeover, but J D confirmed Tuesday that potential deal had fallen apart.

Fr P said they had regretfully concluded they needed to begin a wind down due to the current trading environment on likely prolonged effects of the global health crisis.

They believe those issues make a restructure of Debenhams highly uncertain.

F R P said the company will still trade through its 124 UK stores on online to clear its current and contracted stocks.

The collapse of Debenhams is the second major retail failure in the UK this week.