Woolworths will make 450 of its staff redundant in what is expected to be the first of many job cuts at the collapsed high street retailer.

Deloitte, the accountants, which is trying to find a buyer for the chain, said that it would make the redundancies at Woolworths' offices in Central London and Rochdale. The retailer employs 25,000 staff. None of the cuts will be made at its 815 stores or from Entertainment UK, its DVD and CD distribution business.

Neville Kahn, the joint administrator and reorganisation services partner at Deloitte, said: “Our expectation remains that stores will remain open beyond Christmas and that all staff in the stores will be paid in full.”

Deloitte said when it was appointed that there would be no redundancies at Woolworths' high street stores until after Christmas Day, but there was no such promise for administrative staff at the head office.

Theo Paphitis, the Dragons' Den entrepreneur, walked away from a bid on Thursday, raising fears that Deloitte would sell Woolworths in small parcels. The deadline for bids for single or small groups of Woolworths' stores was 4pm on Wednesday. CB Richard Ellis, the property adviser running the auction, received a high number of bids, with Tesco, Waitrose and Asda believed to be interested in a small number of stores.

Yesterday, Woolworths cut as much as 50 per cent off its products in a bid to shift stock and boost footfall in the run-up to Christmas. The retailer, which has seen footfall in its stores soar since it was put into administration last week, cut the price of toys by half and Christmas trees and decorations by 30 per cent.

Mr Kahn said that Deloitte was pressing ahead with plans to sell Woolworths' stores and EUK. It is believed that there have been few bidders for EUK and many retailers have cancelled their contracts with the business, leaving insiders questioning what value is left in the company other than its head office and lorries.

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has become embroiled in the implosion of Woolworths and could be liable for up to £70 million. The link comes through Zavvi, the music chain formerly owned by Virgin.

Zavvi owes Woolworths' wholesale division up to £70 million for Christmas stock. Under the terms of the buyout deal Virgin did with management last year, it agreed to guarantee Zavvi's payments to Woolworths for stock.

However, sources said that Zavvi would be well able to pay what it owes to Woolworths because the goods it is yet to pay for will be sold over the Christmas period.

There are fears that Woolworths plc might have to go into administration if a deal is not quickly agreed with the BBC over the company's media publishing business 2Entertain, which is a 50-50 joint venture with the corporation.

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax