by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Thousands of jobs are at risk at struggling discount retailer T J Hughes - which has a large store in Maidstone.

It's believed the store giant is close to collapse, putting up to 4,000 jobs at risk.

The Liverpool-based firm was founded 99 years ago and won a loyal following for its big-brand names at lower prices. It sourced many of its product lines from the so-called grey market.

Its 57 stores are mainly in the Midlands and Northern England, and the Maidstone store, opened with a fanfare in The Mall Chequers in July 2001, was designed to spearhead a major push into the south. The Kent store employs around 50 people.

But while discount stores such as Primark did reasonably well in recession, T J Hughes failed to attract enough customers. It made heavy losses in recent years and had to be propped up by a cash injection by the Endless venture capital firm.

Administrators at Ernst & Young are trying to find a buyer for some or all of the business.

Paul Alcock, manager of The Mall Chequers, said it was disappointing news. "We knew they weren't doing particularly well but didn't realise it was quite so serious," he said. But if the worst happened and the store closed, it would 'give us an opportunity to let a big space'."

He added that despite difficult trading conditions, the centre had seen an increase in visitors.

"Footfall is up considerably but the spend is down which is much the national pattern. A lot of people who would have travelled to Bluewater or Lakeside are tending to shop locally now and that's benefited us greatly. We have seen double-digit increases each week."

New tenants had been found for empty shop space, he said.

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