Retailers connected to Iceland’s banks took a battering yesterday as landlords of JJB Sports sent bailiffs into some of its stores while industry sources said that Baugur, the Icelandic investor, was trying to offload its assets.

Bailiffs went into at least a dozen empty stores on which JJB has failed to pay £500,000 rent. The landlords are said to be seeking a statutory demand, which gives the retailer 14 days to pay before the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings.

Exista, an Icelandic investment company that owned 20 per cent of Kaupthing, the bank that has just been nationalised by the Icelandic Government, holds a 29 per cent stake in JJB, alongside Chris Ronnie, the chief executive. JJB recently took a £20 million bridging loan from Kaupthing.

A JJB spokesman said: “We have paid our rent in full and in a timely manner with all our operational stores and are in negotiations with a handful of stores where we have ceased trading.”

Meanwhile, Jon Moulton, the managing partner of Alchemy, the private equity firm, said that Baugur was trying to sell more than 20 British retailers, including House of Fraser and Hamleys. Baugur has denied that it is trying to sell its assets and yesterday said that Mr Moulton had been referring to the sale of stakes in the businesses by the Icelandic Government.

Sir Alan Sugar, the irascible host of the BBC show The Apprentice, has bought a 3.88 per cent stake in Woolworths, in which Baugur has a 10 per cent stake, paying about £1.8 million for the holding.

Sir Philip Green is in talks with the Icelandic Government about investing in Baugur. It has been reported that Sir Philip could invest up to £2 billion from his investments, which have been kept largely out of the equity markets. Baugur has had some of its assets frozen because of the Icelandic banking crisis.

Sir Philip is believed to have travelled to Reykjavik yesterday to meet with Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the chairman of Baugur. He is thought to want to acquire as large a share of the British businesses as possible.

Baugur does not want to put the whole group up for sale but Sir Philip’s solid cash position will put him in a strong negotiating position.

In more bad news, Hardy Amies, former dressmaker to the Queen, said that it had filed for administration after funding talks failed. The company, founded in 1946 by the late Sir Hardy Amies, has appointed Kroll as its administrator.

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