Phones 4u goes into administration as EE hangs up, iPhone 6 pre-orders cancelled

Phones 4U - now in administration
Phones 4U - now in administration

High street phones retailer Phones 4U has gone into administration, insisting that two key networks' decisions not to renew contracts has forced its hand.

After Vodafone decided that it would not be offering its services through the retailer, EE has now followed suit, which has apparently forced Phone 4u's hand.

550 stores across Britain will close immediately and 5,596 jobs are at risk. The holding page at the company's website describes the staff as 'heartbroken'.

Offline

"Following the unexpected decision of EE and Vodafone to withdraw supply from Phones4u , we regret that we are offline," states the page.

A statement from the company read: "The unexpected decisions by both Vodafone and EE have come as a complete shock to the business. The company is in a healthy state and both EE and Vodafpme had, until very recently, consistently indicated that they saw Phones 4u as a long-term strategic partner."

Phones 4u promises that all mobile contracts will be unaffected. It told us in a statement that "Any orders that have no already been dispatched will be cancelled and any payments refunded to customers".

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.

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