Staff could lose their jobs as another retailer looks set to close its stores.

It has been announced that Paperchase, which has a store in Atria Watford, is to be bought by Tesco.

Paperchase’s brand and intellectual property are part of the deal but not the stationery chain’s 106 stores and workforce.

Watford Observer: Under the deal, Tesco plans to buy the brand, but not the stores or workforce.Under the deal, Tesco plans to buy the brand, but not the stores or workforce. (Image: PA)

It means shop workers are likely to face redundancy.  

Tesco managing director of home and clothing Jan Marchant said he is proud to bring Paperchase into its stores.

He added: “We look forward to sharing more with our customers in due course.”

Paperchase said it will continue to honour gift cards in the short-term but stressed it will “not be possible” to redeem these after two weeks.

Today’s announcement came only hours after Paperchase revealed it had fallen into administration as it had failed to find any buyers for the business.

It was revealed on January 8 that Begbies Traynor Group and PwC had been hired to assess options for the company, including a sale.