By business editor Trevor Sturgess

Four greeting card shops across Kent are to close with the loss of jobs.

The Birthdays stores affected are in in Canterbury, Deal, Folkestone and Sidcup.

They were not part of a buyback deal by owner Clinton Cards that saved 196 stores, including nine in Kent - Chatham, Gillingham, Hempstead Valley, Gravesend, Maidstone, Bexleyheath, Bromley, Sittingbourne and Orpington.

Clinton secured 1,450 jobs across the UK by buying back a majority of stores operated by its ailing Birthdays subsidiary from joint administrators for £3.5m. But 136, including the four in Kent, are closing with the loss of 750 jobs.

Birthdays plunged into administration last month (May) after sustaining annual losses of £7m. More than 300 stores and 2,000 jobs were at risk.

Peter Saville, joint administrator with Zolfo Cooper Europe, said: "We are delighted to announce that the sale has been completed, which has preserved approximately 1,450 jobs and offered the best return to unsecured creditors from all the offers received.

"We would like to thank the employees for all their hard work and commitment during the Administration period and wish them all the best for the future as part of Birthdays Retail Limited.

"Securing the future of the business has meant that a number of very difficult decisions had to be made. Without being able to secure a buyer for the remaining stores it was not possible for them to continue trading, and this has regrettably led to the loss of a number of jobs from those stores that have closed."

Birthdays was the latest in a long line of high street names hit by the downturn to go into administration, including Zavvi, Woolworths, MFI, Whittard of Chelsea, Robert Dyas, Adams Childrenswear and Bay Trading. Some of these have disappeared altogether.

Clinton Cards bought Birthdays in December 2004 for around £50m but half the stores were lossmaking and the business was put into administration to protect the rest of the operation. Clinton Cards is the largest card retailer in the country.