THE administrators of clothing chain Peacocks have made 249 head office staff redundant in the first job losses since the clothing retailer collapsed.

KPMG said it would keep on the remaining 266 employees at the Cardiff offices and continue to run Peacocks’ 563 stores and 48 concessions as it seeks a buyer for the business.

Peacocks and its parent company, The Peacock Group, collapsed into administration this week, placing some 9,600 jobs in jeopardy.

Grange Moor-based Bon Marché, also owned by The Peacock Group, employs 3,800 staff and operates some 394 stores. It has not yet entered administration but filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on Monday.

Peacocks and Bon Marché have stores in Huddersfield and Dewsbury.

About 200 workers at the Bon Marché distribution centre at Grange Moor were sent home on Wednesday and will find out this week whether or not to report back for work.

Chris Laverty, of KPMG, said: “It is with regret we have made 249 redundancies at Peacocks’ head office in Cardiff, which follow a commercial review of the staffing levels of the business.”