THE administrators of electrical retail Bennetts have said they hope to sell the business within two weeks - but confirmed there will be job losses.

PKF were appointed administrators of the Norwich-based business at 4pm yesterday after the chain was hit by falling sales, competition with online retailers and the withdrawal of support from a credit insurer in the Christmas trading period which left the firm unable to meet orders.

The company has 16 stores, 14 of which are in East Anglia - including a major store at Martlesham Heath - and employs about 300 people.

David Merrygold, corporate recovery partner at PKF, the company would be making redundancies later today, but was unable to say how many.

While some store closures were also “inevitable”, Mr Merrygold said PKF was already in talks with a number of potential buyers, including members of the Bennetts management team.

He said: “We are already in discussions with a number of parties and hopeful that we will conclude a sale of the business within the next two weeks.”

The company’s stores and websites were closed for trading today.

Any customers who have queries over existing orders are being directed to call a dedicated helpline on 0845 4582000.