EE strikes deal to acquire 58 Phones 4u stores for £2.5m

Mobile operator EE has agreed to buy 58 high street stores from troubled Phones 4u for 2.5 million and rebrand them.

The deal has been confirmed by PwC, who said it should save around 359 jobs at the firm, which was plunged into administration last week after EE announced plans to sever ties with the brand.

PwC was appointed to oversee the firm's administration, and since then has been looking to secure jobs for as many of the 5,596 Phones 4u employees hit by its downturn in fortunes as possible.

Although EE will acquire the leasehold properties and their fixtures and fittings, the inventory of devices held by those stores will not pass to it.

Instead, this will be used to raise funds by PwC as part of the administration process.

On Friday afternoon, PwC announced that 628 of the people employed by Phones 4u at its head office in Newcastle Under Lyme would be made redundant, while a further 400 would be retained to assist it with its administrative duties.

In a statement, released on Friday afternoon, Rob Hunt, joint administrator at PwC, said the decision to lay off the staff was made with "great sadness".

"We will make every effort to help the affected staff, working with the Phones 4u HR team over the coming days to support employees," he said.

"This has been a difficult week for all staff and we want to express our sincere thanks to everyone at Phones 4u who has assisted us."

Around the same time, PwC also revealed that Vodafone had agreed to take on and rebrand 140 Phones 4u stores, resulting in a further 887 jobs being saved.

Meanwhile, Phones 4u rival Dixons Carphone said it hopes to offer jobs to those working in Phones 4u outlets inside its Currys and PC World stores.

Vodafone, like EE, set out plans at the start of the month to withdraw its products from sale through Phones 4u from February 2015, citing a review of its distribution strategy.

This followed similar decisions by O2 and Three, leaving EE and Virgin Mobile as the only major brands the company could stock.

That was until last week, when EE said it was not planning to renew its contract with the retailer when it expires on 30 September 2015.