The Debenhams department store chain is to be wound down after Christmas, with the loss of up to 12,000 jobs and closure of 124 stores in a new blow to the high street. The liquidation of the 240-year-old business came just a day after Philip Green’s Arcadia group, the owner of brands including Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Wallis, collapsed into administration. A total of 25,000 jobs are now at risk at the two companies, which were once part of the Burton Group. The demise of the department store chain will hit many towns across the UK, as the shops are anchor tenants in numerous shopping centres and key attractions on high streets. Alongside Arcadia, a host of other established high street names are in trouble, battered by the twin problems of lockdowns and a shift to online retailing which has accelerated rapidly this year. Edinburgh Woollen Mill plus Peacocks and Jaeger are among the names which have collapsed in recent weeks. Debenhams will launch a massive stock clearance sale at 7am on Wednesday morning as non-essential shops in England are allowed to reopen for the first time in four weeks. The sale will further ratchet up the pressure on rival retailers such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer which will now be under pressure to match the fire-sale prices. The first Debenhams closures are expected in the new year, with all expected to close down by the end of March. Debenhams has been trying to find a buyer since the summer, but its administrators – which have been running the business since April – said they had not received “a deliverable proposal”. They will continue to seek a buyer while the clearance sale is under way. If no buyer is found for the shops once the stock is sold, the stores will close. The department store traces its roots back to 1778 when William Clark established a drapers store on Wigmore Street in the West End of London. Its current name stems from 1813 when William Debenham invested in the company, which became Clark & Debenham. Debenhams had been in rescue talks with JD Sports. But the sports retailer pulled out of the talks when Arcadia went under. Arcadia operated more concessions in Debenhams than any other retailer and Arcadia is believed to have sold about £100m of clothing a year via Debenhams shopfloors. A supplier said the fate of the two firms was closely linked: “Losing Arcadia was a fatal blow to Debenhams and losing Debenhams was a fatal blow to Arcadia.” He said other brands which generate substantial sales from concessions in the department store would also be hard hit. Richard Lim, the chief executive of analysis firm Retail Economics, said the demise of Debenhams would leave huge gaps on the high street. He said: “We cannot overstate the significance of this collapse given the vast property portfolio, number of jobs impacted, and the reverberations felt across the industry. “The reality is that Debenhams has been outmanoeuvred by more nimble competitors, failed to embrace change and was left with a tiring proposition. The impact of the pandemic has accelerated its demise but underlying issues within the business were the root cause.” Geoff Rowley of FRP Advisory, the joint administrator to Debenhams, said: “All reasonable steps were taken to complete a transaction that would secure the future of Debenhams. However, the economic landscape is extremely challenging and, coupled with the uncertainty facing the UK retail industry, a viable deal could not be reached. “The decision to move forward with a closure programme has been carefully assessed and, while we remain hopeful that alternative proposals for the business may yet be received, we deeply regret that circumstances force us to commence this course of action.” JD confirmed the decision on Tuesday morning in a statement that said “discussions with the administrators of Debenhams regarding a potential acquisition of the UK business have now been terminated.” With the exit of JD Sports, the only remaining suitor likely to take on a significant number of stores is Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group. Ashley has made no secret of his interest in the ailing department store despite seeing a £150m stake he built up in the then listed company wiped out last year in a debt restructuring deal with the department store’s lenders. However, Ashley’s offers for the business have so far not exceeded half of the £300m price hoped for by its owners. Big chains including Next, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are expected to take a look at prime Debenhams sites, but many could be broken up into smaller stores or redeveloped for other uses, resulting in significant changes on high streets around the country.