Reports are surfacing of a Portuguese-backed consortium led by ex-Burton owner Greg Tufnell making moves to take over BHS.
According to The Guardian, Mr Tufnell's consortium is understood to have already paid part of the sale proceeds to show its enthusiasm for the deal. The deal will include all 164 of BHS' stores and talks are set to continue today and Monday, with an announcement earmarked for next week.

Liquidators have been lined up should talks break down, in which case all 11,000 will be made redundant. They were reportedly poised to make a move today, but now "progress has been made" on a deal, they are standing down until next week.

The identities of the Portuguese backers remains a mystery, though City sources have claimed it is the Soares dos Santos family, who control Portuguese supermarket group Jeronimo Martins. Any potential investment in BHS will come through SFMS, the family holding company. Representatives for the family have allegedly denied any part in the deal.

A government inquiry into the collapse of BHS is still underway, with MPs now turning their attention to former owner Sir Philip Green and questioning how and why he sold the business to Dominic Chappell and his Retail Acquisitions business.