These shops will continue to trade while Teneo looks for a buyer and there will be no immediate redundancies.

Along with up to 70 stores and the Homebase name, The Range owner CDS Superstores has also bought the intellectual property.

The Homebase brand will continue online and the physical shops will become The Range stores.

Homebase’s chief executive, Damian McGloughlin, said staff would find the news “unsettling”.

He said the past three years had been “incredibly challenging” for DIY stores.

There had been a “decline in consumer confidence and spending following the pandemic”, he said, as well as “persistent high inflation, global supply chain issues and unseasonable weather”.

McGloughlin said the business had restructured and sought investment but “these efforts have not been successful”.

He added that staff would find the news of the collapse “unsettling”.

Teneo joint administrator Gavin Maher said “this is a very difficult and uncertain time for all involved”.

He said any party with an interest in buying the remaining stores should “get in touch”.