Land of Leather, the furniture retailer, has collapsed and put 800 jobs at risk as it joins the growing list of casualties going bust in Britain’s worsening downturn.

The struggling furniture group has called in Deloitte, the accountancy firm, which will seek to sell Land of Leather as a going concern.

Deloitte attempted to sell Woolworths but was forced to close the 99-year-old retailer after failing to find a buyer.

The collapse of another UK company emerged after Gordon Brown announced plans today to offer companies “golden hellos” worth up to £2,500 when they take on someone who has been out of work for longer than six months.

The jobless toll rose today when Waterford Wedgwood, the glassware and china maker, said today it would cut 367 staff from its 1,900-strong workforce in the UK.

Wincanton, the logistics company, said that it would eliminate 1,000 jobs from two sites in Manchester and Gloucester through a merger with Culina while the company that makes Findus's frozen foods in the UK had collapsed, putting 420 jobs at risk.

Shares in Land of Leather, which had slumped to 2.75p, were suspended this morning over uncertainty about its financial position.

The sofa retailer, which has 106 stores and employs about 800 staff, is the latest in a line of furniture stores to go into administration.

Last year MFI, ScS, Rosebys and The Pier went bust 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 the rising rate of unemployment in the UK, where 1.86 million people are out of work.

A number of retailers have gone into administration, including Zavvi, the CD and DVD group, Whittard of Chelsea and The Officers Club, job losses are spreading across all sectors.

Land of Leather was in talks with potential bidders in December but failed to find a buyer, despite receiving approaches from Hilco, the restructuring specialist, and Sun European Partners, the private equity group that owns Homeform and bought part of ScS Upholstery after it fell into administration last year.

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