Today we had the news that one of the biggest companies on our high streets and retail parks is about to disappear for good altogether. Comet confirmed that they will be formally appointing administrators next week.

Deloitte, the company that will be appointed as administrators, are hoping that the business can be sold as a going concern. Though hopes for such an outcome are slim as a a deal fell through a few weeks ago to try and keep the company going. There are the odd interested buyer out there, but out of the 240 stores across the UK, the interest is only for a few selected ones.

Sadly, 6,500 jobs are now at risk. Unless some amazing offer comes out of the blue, it looks like all these jobs will go to the scrap heap. Comet was bought a couple of years ago by OpCapita for a measly £2, but the company held a debt in the tens of millions. Unfortunately, the rise in online spending and delivery services has meant Comet fell way behind the current very quickly. They did very little to alter their business model and so posted a massive £35 million loss in the last financial year.

It might have been a good idea to follow the new business model that Argos has adopted, which involves creating an online base with apps and a website from which people can order a product from, and then use the stores as collecti

 

on points. That way, the company adapts to the ever more important online world and is able to keep jobs and stores functioning. However this was something that Comet was far too late to the party for and I guess that this outcome was the only realistic one.

Comet was founded in 1933 as a business charging batteries for wireless sets. It opened its first store in 1968, in Hull, and was bought by Kingfisher in 1984, which expanded the Comet brand into one of the most familiar names on the High Street.