Raj Chatha steps in to save 200 jobs as he snaps up 37 Oddbins stores

A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE businessman has saved 200 jobs at Oddbins after he acquired 37 of the wine merchant shops from administrators yesterday.

Raj Chatha, owner of EFB Holdings, acquired the stores for an undisclosed sum and they will become part of EFB's Whittals Wine Merchant chain.

Administrators at Deloitte said they were "confident of an imminent deal" for the remaining 48 stores.

Although the company did not confirm how many acquired stores were based north of the Border, Chatha said the deal would help Whittalls push into London and Scotland.

Chatha said: "The addition to our retail estate means we can truly call ourselves a national player.

"This represents a new dawn for these Oddbins stores, and with the well-reported financial shackles removed,it willallow for a consistent supply of stock and investment at store level for the benefit of all, most importantly its loyal staff and consumer base.

"Our focus over the coming weeks and months will be to replenish the stores with an exciting range at competitive prices. I am also delighted with the number of jobs we have managed to save."

European Food Brokers (EFB) was set-up by Chatha in 1991. The Walsall-based group bought 12 branches of Unwins and 109 shops from the failed Wine Cellar chain in 2009, for which it paid 2 million in cash. It now operates stores as Whittalls, Booze Buster and Simply Drinks and, with a turnover in 2010 of 113m, is one of the largest family-owned independent drinks distributors in the UK.

Oddbins, which has 19 stores in Scotland, fell into administration earlier this month after a proposed rescue deal by former managing director Simon Baile fell through.

After shutting 39 stores, the group had hoped to restructure its debts through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) but HMRC, which was owed 8m by the chain, refused to vote for the scheme.

Oddbins was the latest victim of a declining independent wine trade in the UK, which also saw Threshers' owner First Quench Retailing, collapse in 2009.

Chatha was thwarted in his ambitions to buy 200 First Quench-owned Threshers stores when his bid was rejected by administrator KPMG in December of that year.

Baile, whose father ran Oddbins in the 1970s, took control of the business in 2008.

Under then younger Baile's leadership, the company overhauled its wine range, sourcing bottles from smaller producers with the aim of giving it a point of difference against the supermarkets.

This helped increase footfall at its stores and raised the average bottle price paid by customers.

But despite these initiatives, the company struggled to compete, hindered by the tough economic climate in the UK.Last week Baile failed in an attempt to buy back the unprofitable wine retailer from administrators.