Laser electrical stores to close

The company employs 140 people in Northern Ireland across 10 stores, including Belfast, Coleraine, Newtonabbey, Lisburn as well as Londonderry. The chain has blamed the economic downturn. The stores have been closed until further notice.

Staff have been advised not to return to work as administrators are in the process of contacting administrators.

The company's administrator KPMG with staff at each shop and at company HQ on Friday.

They are trying to contact customers who are waiting on purchases, but it will be sometime next week before they know the full picture.

The company is owned by County Antrim businessmen Maurice Peacock and Liam Scullion who took control of the firm in a management buyout in 2004.

They had been seeking fresh investment for some time but called in the administrators when it became clear that was not going to be possible to achieve.

KPMG said anyone who has a claim against the company or who may have goods on the premises to contact them in writing at KPMG, Stokes House, 17-25 College Square East, Belfast, BT1 6DH.

The company's last published accounts, which were for 2008/2009, showed it made a profit of 34,177 which the directors said had been achieved against a "very challenging trading environment."