Fabric Warehouse in Administration
7/5/2008
Fabric Warehouse Operations Limited, trading as Fabric Warehouse, has been placed into administration.
Leonard Curtis director Neil Bennett has been appointed administrator to the business which supplied fabrics, homewares and ready-made curtains to the public.
Until 2004 the business was part of the Homestyle Group plc, when it was acquired by The Furnishings Place Limited. Headquartered in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the business traded from 31 stores from Plymouth to Edinburgh. Results for the year to April 2007 show a turnover of approximately £25 million.
Commenting on his appointment as administrator, Neil Bennett said: "By late last year the business was already in difficulties, due, in the view of the directors, to consecutive interest rate rises and a challenging retail environment and the business in its current form became unsustainable.
"We have now completed the sale of 10 stores to Caldeira Retail Limited who will buy the stock in these stores and take over the employees, as well as buying the stock of a further 16 stores. Caldeira is also taking over the responsibility for completing customer orders in 21 stores. In addition we will be working alongside the management of Fabric Warehouse to complete the remaining customer orders in the remaining stores where deposits have been paid. This is important because it means that customers who have paid deposits will not lose out.
"A further store has been sold to Remnant Kings Central Limited. Finally, we are currently negotiating the sale of four further stores, which we will keep open for the time being, with the aim of maximising the return to creditors and saving as many jobs as possible. Unfortunately in the current economic climate it has been necessary to close the remaining stores."
