Administrators to Kent-based furniture retailer Land of Leather have failed to find a buyer for 33 stores, including the Gillingham branch, putting nearly 100 jobs at risk.

Land of Leather, which was founded in 1994 by Jerry Briant, and has its HQ in Northfleet, plunged into administration on January 12 after poor trading.

The Gillingham store opened only just over a year ago, on Boxing Day, 2007, on the former B&Q site in Ambley Way.

Administrators at Deloitte hoped to sell the 109-store chain as a going concern but admitted on Monday that they have been unable to find a buyer for 30 UK outlets and three in Ireland.

Land of Leather stores in Gillingham, Maidstone, Canterbury and Orpington are not affected by the decision to begin a stock liquidation sale ahead of expected closure with the loss of 95 jobs. Administrators are still hoping to find a buyer for the remaining stores.

Lee Manning, Deloitte’s partner and joint administrator, said: “While we are making every effort to sell Land of Leather as a going concern, it is apparent that interested parties will not buy all of the 109 stores. Therefore, we have taken the decision to begin pre-closure inventory liquidation sales at 33 of the stores.

“We have begun discounting the stock in those stores with a view to winding down. However, we continue to talk to prospective buyers for the business, and all other stores remain open and available for purchase as a going concern.”

The Administrators have already written to all customers who have paid a deposit on furniture to explain how they are affected. Outstanding orders will be transferred to another Land of Leather store nearby or handled by the Group’s head office.

Any customers affected by this should with queries should contact the dedicated customer hotline on 0800 496 0868 or email their query to LoL@deloitte.co.uk.

In 2002, Land of Leather was named fastest-growing business in Kent. The chain employs more than 1,000 people, including 113 in Kent, 90 at its head office in Northfleet.

It has been struggling for several months following consumer belt-tightening and the slump in property sales.

Big-ticket items have been hammered by the economic downturn, with Land of Leather sales crashing by 47 per cent in the three months to November 2.

In October, it announced that annual pre-tax profits had dived to £2.3 million, down from £18.5 million the previous year, while like-for-like sales orders had fallen by 28.9 per cent. Company chiefs had been trying to re-finance or sell the business.