ADMINISTRATORS are hoping to find a buyer to take on the remaining shops in a shoe retail chain “lock, stock and barrel”.Mr Shoes stores in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Chelmsford are remaining open after the 24-store retail chain went into administration on Monday.

ADMINISTRATORS are hoping to find a buyer to take on the remaining shops in a shoe retail chain “lock, stock and barrel”.

Mr Shoes stores in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Chelmsford are remaining open after the 24-store retail chain went into administration on Monday.

But stores in Lakeside, Cambridge, Covent Garden, Bromley, King's Lynn, Bluewater, Lincoln and Romford were all earmarked for closure by administrators Larking Gowen, with the loss of around 60 jobs.

Norwich-based Mr Shoes, which became one of the latest high street casualties of the recession this week, has attracted interest from “quite a few” buyers, said joint administrator Bob Rose.

Mr Rose said they had yet to find out if any of the potential suitors had sufficient funds, but were hoping a deal could be done within the next week or so.

“Quite a few people have expressed an interest, but in these times there can be a bit of a gulf between someone expressing an interest to providing the funds,” he said. “We are waiting to see really. We have been talking to quite a few people.”

The retailer, based in Norwich, was founded by ex-Olympic runner and Nike UK boss Mike Tagg in 1978 and employed around 130 people in stores across the southern half of the UK.

“It's another retail outlet and it's got a good reputation, a good product line, a good stock line, but simply not enough people buying shoes. It's not difficult to work out where the problem lies,” said Mr Rose.

“We are hoping we can sell the business lock, stock and barrel.”

They were “hopeful” they could keep the 70 remaining staff in employment, he said.