Another thousand British jobs are in the balance after the collapse of Land of Leather yesterday. Its management called in Deloitte, the accountant, as administrator after the furniture retailer ran out of cash, putting 1,060 jobs at risk.

The news completed a dreadful day for British jobs as companies including Wincanton, the logistics business, JCB, the construction vehicle maker, and Merrill Lynch, the investment bank, cut a total of 4,365 jobs. Nearly 1,500 more are risk after Land of Leather and Newcastle Productions, the Findus Food maker, which employs 420 people, went into administration.

Lee Manning, of Deloitte, said that he had received several expressions of interest for Land of Leather, but he did not expect to be able to sell all 109 stores. Some job losses are, therefore, certain. About 5 per cent of customers who have paid deposits on Land of Leather furniture are expected to lose their money, although the administrators may be able to offer them discounts on replacement goods. The administrators promised that most customers would not be affected.

Mr Manning said: “We have taken steps to protect customers and to inform them of how the administration affects their circumstances. All customers who paid a deposit by credit card or Visa debit card, or paid a deposit by any means since December 26, are fully protected.”

The collapse of Land of Leather will raise fears that similar companies facing annual audits may be put into administration because banks are not lending to businesses. Land of Leather was debt-free, but its auditor was concerned that it did not have enough working capital to allow it to sign off its accounts because its banks refused to lend it any more money.

Robin Johnson, a partner at Eversheds, the lawyer, said: “Auditors are looking for at least 18 months’ committed bank facilities, which will leave nonexecutives in a very difficult position as banks prevaricate.” Shares in Land of Leather, which had slumped to 2¾p, were suspended yesterday.

The sofa retailer is the latest in a line of furniture stores to collapse. Last year MFI, ScS, Rosebys and The Pier went under after the downturn in the housing market meant that fewer people were moving house and, therefore, buying fewer “big ticket” items. Since then, consumers have become more cautious because of rising unemployment in the UK, with 1.86 million people are out of work.

The jobless toll rose further when Waterford Wedgwood, the glassware and chinamaker, said that it would cut 367 staff from its 1,900-strong work-force in Britain. Deloitte, the administrator, hopes to sell the global business to KPS Capital, an American fund.

Wincanton said that it would cut 1,000 jobs from two sites in Manchester and Gloucester through a merger with Culina. JCB blamed the credit crunch for a 75 per cent drop in production as it cut 700 jobs. The cuts come weeks after the last staff reductions at the company, which until recently was held up as a great British success story.

Some JCB workers have taken pay cuts to protect jobs. The latest cuts will bring the total jobs lost since last July to 1,700. All the new cuts will come in Britain, where JCB employs 4,800 people. Matthew Taylor, JCB’s chief executive, said that, despite the banks’ recapitalisation, customers were struggling to buy machines because they had no access to credit.

Waterstone’s, the bookstore group, said that it would make redundancies after adopting a new distribution system. The HMV-owned chain, which has 4,500 staff in 300 outlets, will make 200 people redundant as the new system will allow only one delivery a day.

Cushman & Wakefield, a property consultant, said that it would make up to 80 sales and lettings staff redundant in its UK business, which employs 700 people, in the next two months.

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