Penniless Comet handed P45s to 735 workers in a second round of cuts across the business today, administrator Deloitte has confirmed.

The list of casualties includes 603 employees in the home delivery network, which operates 12 UK hubs and will continue with a skeletal staff, and 132 head office and support roles. The cull, the second in a fortnight, comes as Deloitte searches for buyers to snap up bits of the dying electrical retail chain.

"Discussions continue to take place with parties who have expressed interest in parts of the business. However, it is unfortunately necessary to begin a store closure programme and to scale back the company's support functions," said Chris Farrington, joint administrator at Deloitte.

Deloitte has already initiated major changes at Comet: 330 workers were laid off a week ago, and at the weekend the receiver set in motion plans to shutter 41 stores by the end of the month.

The administrator said it may redeploy some staff from those closing outlets, but admitted that "inevitably" there will be cuts among the 869 full- and part-time affected employees.

Deloitte said the troubled chain has established links with 35 prospective employers "keen" to offer ex-Comet staffers new jobs; presumably this includes Dixons, which said it's looking to fill 3,000 extra roles for Christmas.

Farrington said redundant staff will be offered classes to teach job-hunting skills, such as CV and cover letter writing, as well as improve their interview techniques. ®