DVD rental chain Blockbuster has called in the administrators for second time this year, putting around 2000 high street jobs at risk.

Private equity group, Gordon Brothers Europe, which took over 264 stores in March, said that a turnaround plan for the company had failed.

Blockbuster initially collapsed in January with 528 stores and 4,190 staff. Administrators Deloitte sold 49 stores to Morrisons, and identified 293 stores for closure with the intention of leaving a 'profitable core' to be sold. In the event, some of these were subsequently included in the deal agreed with Gordon Brothers.

Yesterday Gordon Brothers said in a statement that they had 'striven to turnaround the historically loss-making company by restructuring the business, investing significantly in strategic marketing activities and negotiating with the landlords of its retail outlets'.

However, the company said, it had also tried to develop a new digital platform 'but was unable to broker a licensing deal with Blockbuster UK's parent company in the US'.

The investment group warned that its strategy has coincided with 'a period of poor trading performance across both rental and retail sales' and it has been forced to file a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.

Frank Morton, chief executive of Gordon Brothers Europe, said: 'Since the acquisition we have worked extremely hard to reignite the Blockbuster brand, make our investment work and put the business on a viable footing. Despite our best efforts, we regret that we are now forced to make some redundancies and would like to thank any affected employees for their support during the last six months.'

Thirty-two jobs will go at Blockbuster's UK head office immediately. Blockbuster stores will remain open while a buyer is sought.

Gordon Brothers has made no comment on who will act as administrator this time around, but according to the Financial Times, this is likely to be Moorfields rather than Deloitte.