Specialist bathroom chain Bathstore is on the brink of appointing administrators, according to reports.
Sky News said it had learned that the company was lining up accountancy and business advisory firm BDO to handle the insolvency process.
And, according to its sources, the process could start early next week, as the continued challenging conditions in the retail sector look set to claim another victim.
Bathstore has an outlet at Currock Trade Centre, in Currock Road, Carlisle. It is one of 160 stores across the UK.
BDO has declined to comment on the rumour while Bathstore have been unresponsive, said Sky News.
If it comes to fruition, the move is set to endanger hundreds of jobs across the UK and see Bathsore join the likes of Toys R Us and Maplin in slumping into administration in the last 18 months.
Both the entertainment and electrical retailers have closed their premises in Carlisle, with Maplin also shutting its store in Barrow.
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