ONE of the district's flagship companies has announced plans to expand its business in Loughton.

Greeting-card giant Clintons put its struggling chain of 332 Birthdays stores into administration in May but now wants to keep the brand alive by buying back about 150 of the outlets.

Group commercial director Barry Hortog said they are keen to reacquire the more profitable stores and retain their existing shop fronts and logo, and run the business from its head office in Langston Road.

He said the company will put its proposal before the administrators in mid June.

Clintons has had a presence in the district since chairman Don Lewin opened his first shop in Epping in 1968, and is now a household name with hundreds of stores nationwide.

But the Birthdays division of the company, which sells sells cards, gifts and gift wrap, has been hit by declining business as a result of the credit crisis.

The collapse has put more than 2,000 jobs at risk nationwide, although the 230 workers at the Loughton site have been told their positions are safe.

About 50 jobs are thought to have been lost at Birthdays' existing headquarters in Bury, but the stores are continuing to trade while administrators look to find new owners to take them over as a going concern.

Other interested parties are thought to include private equity firm Endless, which owns British Bookshops and Stationers and discount book chain The Works, and greeting-card retailer Card Factory.

Peter Saville, a partner at administrators Zolfo Cooper, said: "We remain hopeful of securing the future of the Birthdays' business despite the harsh trading environment being experienced by all retailers at present."