STAFF at Budgens stores in Aberystwyth and Cardigan face an uncertain future after the operating company behind it went into administration just seven months after taking over.

Food Retailer Operations Limited, which bought 36 former Co-operative stores in July last year, has experienced “difficult trading conditions” and “intense competition” leading to it being put in administration.

The stores in Aberystwyth, which employs 28 people, and Cardigan, which employs 21, will continue to trade while a buyer is sought, administrators said.

The store, which became a Co-op after the company’s buy out of the Somerfield chain for £1.6bn in 2008, was rebranded Budgens supermarkets after FROL bought the Co-op sites for an undisclosed sum.

While independently owned, Budgens stores fall under the banner of the massive Booker Group, which announced plans for a merger deal with Tesco last month.

Following the announcement, Co-op has offered to find jobs for ex-colleagues if no buyer for the stores can be found, as well as protect their pension rights.

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