RETAILER GAME has closed all of its stores in the State with the loss of 121 jobs after the group went into administration. Administrators appointed yesterday also closed most of its stores in Northern Ireland, cutting 110 jobs.

The Game Group became the latest retailer to go into administration, after the company last week suspended its listing on the London Stock Exchange and said it was seeking the protection of the courts. Mike Jervis and Stuart Maddison of PricewaterhouseCoopers were yesterday appointed as joint administrators of the UK and Ireland operations.

Only five stores in Ireland have escaped the axe, all in the North – two in Belfast and one each in Derry, Newtownards and Craigavon. The closures were effective immediately.

The move was part of the “necessary” closure of 277 stores across the UK and Ireland yesterday, with the loss of around 2,100 jobs, following a review of the business, administrators said.

Some 333 stores will remain open as normal while the administrators seek a buyer for the business. PwC said a number of parties were interested in buying all or some of the business’s assets.

Game employs about 10,000 staff in 1,270 stores across nine European countries and Australia.