Let me take this opportunity to thank the child who last week made my son an unsecured creditor of Woolworths by giving him a £10 gift token for his birthday.

Even an 11-year-old might have guessed Woolworths’ fate as a retailer would soon be sealed. This weekend’s wrangling with lenders and buyers will determine only how that happens – through a £1 takeover of the shops by restructuring specialist Hilco UK or, abruptly, through administration of the whole group. Either way, stores will be closed, stock sold, jobs lost.