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Is your supermarket struggling to supply cigarettes in the run-up to Christmas following the collapse of a Coventry wholesaler?

One Sainsbury's store has already taken to displaying a notice explaining to customers why some of the shelves are bare and stocks of cigarettes are running low.

The store, attached to a filling station, put a notice up to say that stocks of grocery, fresh goods and cigarettes were low as a result of wholesaler Palmer & Harvey going into administration.

The notice read: “Due to our supplier (Palmer and Harvey) going into administration we currently have a smaller supply of products in grocery/cigarettes and fresh.

“Sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. Thanks.”

A spokesman for Sainsbury's said the issue at the store in question was an “isolated incident” and that the supermarket chain was not experiencing any major problems with the supply of goods.

They said: "We’ve looked into this and it’s an isolated case. We’ll have more stock very soon and are apologising to customers for any inconvenience this may have caused.

"We have no supply issue and customers should continue to buy products as they normally would."

Last week Palmer & Harvey (P&H) appointed PwC as administrators after “challenging trading conditions” heaped pressure on its cash flow and efforts to revive the business failed to take hold.

PwC announced 2,500 immediate redundancies at the firm’s head office and 14 branches (which include Coventry), with 900 staff remaining at risk.

It was confirmed that 350 of the 400 staff who worked at the Coventry operation in Dolomite Avenue, Canley , lost their jobs.

It is understood that staff who remained at the business are helping PwC in the administration process.

P&H, the UK’s biggest supplier of cigarettes, provides alcohol, groceries and frozen food to 90,000 retail accounts, including Sainsbury and Tesco.

A spokesman for Tesco said the chain was “not aware of any issues” regarding the supply of goods to its stores after P&H went into administration.

A spokesman for PwC did not comment on whether there were any issues regarding supply of goods but said: “With regards to the stock, the administrators are currently working with suppliers and creditors to review retention of title claims and deal with the repossession of stock where retention of title claims are deemed valid.

“This is a considerable task given the number of suppliers and the administrators are currently working through this process.”

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