HUDDERSFIELD-based fashion chain Bon Marché is set to have new owners by the end of today – but it seems their first task will to be shut well over 100 stores, potentially making thousands of employees redundant.

A judge is expected to give the go-ahead for the stricken chain to be bought for £10m by US-backed private equity firm Sun European Partners, which also owns the Alexon and Jacques Vert brands.

But it is understood that Sun has earmarked more than 100 of the chain’s 394 stores for closure, threatening hundreds of redundancies. Despite this bad news, the deal will safeguard most of the 3,800 jobs in the viable stores.

One of the members of staff who works in the massive distribution centre at Grange Moor, but asked not to be named, said: “I certainly hope it will be saved. Everyone who works in the distribution centre was sent home last week and told to wait for a call but we’ve heard nothing yet.

“My understanding is that the number of Bon Marché shops that may end up remaining after all this could be as low as 230.

“I’ve not had a call. I’ve tried to call the head office but only get a voicemail and my supervisor is not answering his phone.’’

Bon Marché, founded in 1982, has a store on New Street in Huddersfield town centre and is the UK’s largest value retailer selling affordable quality womenswear in a wide range of sizes (12-24) to women aged over 45.

It was part of the Peacocks Group which last week collapsed into administration under its £750m debt mountain.

This made it the biggest retail failure since Woolworths in 2009, placing 9,600 jobs in jeopardy.

But whereas administrators were called in to take charge of the Peacocks chain, Bon Marché had been kept out of administration to allow sale talks to continue.

The Bon Marché employee revealed last week that the potential buyers had been on a tour of the Grange Moor site last Tuesday evening.