COMET employees in North Somerset are facing an uncertain future following the announcement the company will go into administration.

The electrical giant revealed yesterday (Thurs) that it will seek a court order to put the business into administration next week.

In North Somerset, this could mean the closure of a Comet shop at Weston’s Flowerdown Retail Park as well as a call centre at Windmill Business Park off Kenn Road near Clevedon which employs more than 400 people.

This week’s administration news could see the loss of 6,500 jobs across Comet, Britain’s second largest electrical specialist after Dixons.

The company was sold to OpCapita at the beginning of the year by Kesa, which paid it a �50million dowry to take it on for a token �2. Since then, some suppliers had stopped using Comet to sell their goods.

A Comet spokesman said: “Comet Group Limited can confirm that it has today taken steps to seek the protection of the court with a view to the company entering into administration during the week commencing November 5.

“In the meantime, the board is urgently working with its advisers to seek a solution to secure a viable future for the company.”