£18m Murtagh-backed deal saves 600 UK supermarket jobs

Around 600 jobs at the troubled UK supermarket chain Kwik Save were saved tonight with an £18m (€26.5m) deal to sell the remaining stores to new owners.

Administrators KPMG concluded a deal to sell the 56 branches to FreshXpress, which is believed to be backed by Irish entrepreneur Brendan Murtagh.

A spokesman for the administrators, who were appointed after a court hearing earlier today, said staff would now be paid wages arrears.