Network operator EE is to buy 58 Phones 4u stores in a £2.5million deal saving more than 350 jobs at the collapsed mobile phone retailer.

The agreement with administrator PwC comes after Vodafone said on Friday it would buy 140 Phones 4u stores, safeguarding 887 jobs.

The collapse of Phones 4u, which went into administration last week following EE's decision not to renew its contract, affected 5,600 workers at 560 Phones 4u stores and a further 160 concession outlets. Dixons Carphone has already said it will take on the 800 staff who worked at 160 Phones 4u sites within Currys/PC World stores. EE said the stores and 359 employees will be transferred with immediate effect, although the location of the shops has not been disclosed.

The stores will be re-branded to EE and it is planned most will be opened in the next week. With buyers only interested in the store estate, PwC has restructured the Phones 4u Newcastle-under-Lyme offices in order to cut costs. This resulted in 628 redundancies among head office and telesales staff on Friday.

There are still 3,000 jobs and more than 300 stores at risk following the deals with Vodafone, EE and Dixons Carphone. PwC said three parties were interested in buying the standalone store estate, EE and Vodafone likely to be among them.