Zavvi will not be the last high-profile victim of the recession, according to retail recruiters.

Marketing Week reports that defunct entertainment retailer Zavvi will be wound-up after a company led by former chief executive Simon Douglas agreed a deal to buy all remaining stock and eight stores.

Kate McCarthy, managing director at McCarthy Retail Recruitment, told Recruiter: “I would like to say that Zavvi will be the last name to disppear but I think there might be a few surprises out there.

“With Zavvi in particular, they were trading very well. They were a victim of Woolworth’s demise as opposed to how the business was trading.

“They have got some fantastic employees in the business. They will all be placed in new positions.”

Peter Burgess, director at Retail HR, adds: “I think there will be one or two more to go. But I think the worst of it is now over because it always happens in January when the retailers have the money for the sharks to go after.

“I think the employees will be taken up elsewhere because it is a very good business. They are spread around the country so it is not the same as where you get thousands of people made redundant in one place.”

Gabby Rosenberg, director at Seven, says: “The retailers that have gone have been teetering on the brink for years. It’s survival of the fittest.”