MORE than 1,600 jobs, including 26 in Suffolk and north Essex, have been saved with the sale of bed manufacturer and retailer Dreams following a collapse into administration.

But around 400 more employees at 95 stores not included in the sale face an uncertain future, with the administrators from accountancy firm Ernst & Young still looking for an alternative buyer.

The administrators, who were appointed on Tuesday, have sold 171 Dreams stores to private equity group Sun Capital Partners, together with the company’s head office and its two UK manufacturing plants.

Among the stores included in the deal, the value of which has not been disclosed, are those in Bury St Edmunds, Colchester, Braintree and Chelmsford plus the Euro Retail Park branch in Ipswich. However, the Dreams store on the Anglia Retail Park in Ipswich, which has a workforce of three, is not included in the sale.

A spokesman for Ernst & Young said the sale had secured new investment for Dreams, allowing the stores covered by the deal to continue operating, and the new owner would honour orders, where a deposit had been paid, and warranties.

“The remaining stores that are not included in the sale will remain open for business whilst the administrators seek to find buyers for these stores,” added joint administrator Alan Hudson.

Dreams founder Mike Clare, who sold the business in 2008 and failed with a bid to rescue the company ahead of the administration, is a possible buyer for some of all of the remaining stores.