The recession is laying waste to Britain’s high streets amid fears that following Christmas and the January sales, more stores will go in to administration and thousands of workers will lose their jobs. 

Home furnishings chain The Pier appointed administrators yesterday but continues trading for the time being. The firm employs 400 at 31 stores and department store concessions across the UK. 

Men’s fashion group Envy, with 55 stores, also appointed administrators – for the second time this year. 

City speculation suggests Zavvi; the music retailer with strong connections to Woolworth’s, clothing chain Phase Eight and sportswear group JJB are also facing financial problems. 

Zavvi – the former Virgin Megastores – is supplied by Woolworth’s wholesale arm Entertainment UK. 

Woolworth’s is turning up the pressure on the rest of the high street by launching a savage half-price sale in a bid to shift huge volumes of stock. 

Bidding for Woolies’ 800 stores closed yesterday. 

Dragon’s Den retail magnate Theo Paphitis dropped out saying he could not reach an agreement with the administrators and that Woolies’ is worth more in parts rather than a whole business. 

WH Smith is playing down rumours that the firm is ‘interested’ in picking up 400 Woolies’ stores.

The City is expecting 2 Entertain, Woolworth’s joint publishing venture with the BBC, could also be put into administration. Woolworth’s holds a 40% share in 2 Entertain.

Meanwhile, in the markets, the FTSE closed down 0.2 pct at 4,163.61 and the DOW fell 215.45 points down to 8,376.24.

The Pound had a bruising day, closing at 1.148 Euros.

The UK currency also dropped against the dollar, to $1.447, the lowest level in almost seven years, before recovering to $1.465. 

In July, the pound traded at more than $2, but it has lost ground as a number of economic reports forecast a particularly severe downturn in the UK.