Former employees of the now defunct White’s grocery stores will receive 70 per cent of the money they are owed, liquidators have revealed.

Mike Morrison and Charles Thresh of professional services firm KPMG made the announcement last night, adding that employees who had already provided bank details would receive their payment early next week.

The Warwick supermarket White and Sons Ltd closed in August 2012, with all staff forfeiting their jobs.

The Southside store followed suit, as did the Haywards supermarket.

A KPMG spokesman said that employees’ claims for wages in arrears, accrued vacation and statutory severance totalled approximately $1.1 million.

He attributed the high figure to a large number of long-serving staff at White’s stores. In total, there were 75 employee creditors.

“Given the claims and the cash available in the estate, the joint liquidators have determined that a dividend of 70 per cent can be paid,” he added. Yesterday evening, during a meeting in the Bermuda Industrial Union’s headquarters, employees were informed of the decision, which was agreed by the committees of inspection for the companies. Any affected workers can contact Sahima Choudhury by calling 295-5063 (extension 337) or by sending an e-mail to sahimachoudhury@kpmg.bm to make further arrangements.