Tottenham-based drinks wholesaler Venus has purchased the Wine Rack brand from the administrators of the First Quench group.

The wholesaler, a member of the Today's Group, also purchased 13 stores as part of the deal.

However, administrators KPMG have so far failed to find purchasers for most of the rest of the Threshers, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine estate, and has announced plans to close a further 391 stores, resulting in 2,140 redundancies.

Joint administrator Richard Fleming said: “Unfortunately, despite the initial high level of interest, it remains difficult for buyers to complete deals in the current tough market.

“However, we are still in talks regarding the sale of over 100 stores and hope to be able to make a further announcement about this shortly. We also remain hopeful that some of the 391 stores announced today might still be sold as going concerns before the closure process is completed, but with stock now running low in the remaining stores it has been necessary to make plans to close them.”

Eight stores have been successfully sold to SEP Properties, while agents Christie & Co has reported strong interest for a number of First Quench stores being disposed on an individual basis rather than as part of the business overall.

Liquidation sales at the 391 stores included in the latest phase of closures will start on Tuesday December 1, and similar actions are continuing within the remaining 126 stores announced as closing on November 5, and the 381 stores announced as closing on November 20. A total of 247 off licences within the 1,200-strong group have now shut their doors permanently.

A full list of stores that are closing can be found here.