KPMG said it had received more than 30 formal bids for the chain, but had whittled this down to six would-be buyers – believed to include the company's founder, Gordon Richardson, who sold the business earlier this year. Richardson quit the firm and sold it to rival company Tinderbox after a wrangle with investors over the future direction of the chain.

The news of the sale came as Richardson, who started the company selling coffee from a single cart in 1999 and grew it to a 14-strong chain, announced he is to launch a new consultancy business. He will advise the retail, licensed and leisure sectors and added he is set to open his first pizzeria and music venue in Glasgow city centre this year.

The new venture for Richardson come just two months after he opened the first branch of a New York City-style deli and coffee house chain called Pico, under his newly established One Big Groove umbrella group.

Beanscene, which employs 142 staff, slipped into liquidation last month after promises of finance from an investor were withdrawn halfway through a planned expansion, leaving it with leases on five shops that could not be transformed into outlets.

KPMG said it had received inquiries about the chain from around 150 potential buyers and was confident of a sale once formal bids were submitted.

Blair Nimmo, joint administrator at KPMG, said: "There have been more than 30 bidders and over the past ten days, we have been whittling the bids down to come up with a shortlist of six.

"We will this week select one of them for 'preferred bidder' status. We are trying to work out who will offer the best package for the creditors."

It is understood that some of the bids were made for all of Beanscene's stores, while others were for just part of the chain, which has branches in Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Hawick, Stirling and Ayr.