STATIONERY retailer Paperchase has gone into administration.

The firm, which has stores in Salisbury and Ringwood, failed to secure a rescue package in recent weeks.

However, bosses at the 50-year-old brand say the stores, which are also at Clarks in Street, Bath, and in Taunton, would remain open ‘in the short term’.

Paperchase has 106 stores and employs around 820 staff.

Begbies Traynor, who have been appointed as joint administrators, said: “Unfortunately, despite a comprehensive sales process, no viable offers were received for the company, or its business and assets.

“However, there has been significant interest in the Paperchase brand and attendant intellectual property.”

It has been reported that Tesco was on the brink of buying Paperchase’s brand name and other intellectual property, but not its shops.

Anyone with a Paperchase gift card is being advised to use it in the next two weeks, after which redemption will not be possible.