Fri, 24 Jun 2011 | ADMINISTRATION
Home furniture group Homeform, and owner of brands Moben Kitchens, Dolphin Bathrooms and Sharps Bedrooms, is heading for administration.
Homeform has nearly secured a deal that will ensure the continuation of its Sharps and Kitchen Direct businesses, and is now looking to dispose of the Moben and Dolphin brands.
Administrators are to be brought in over the next ten days, in the company’s second failure in four years. The present owners, US private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, bought Homeform out of administration back in 2007.
There is speculation that Sun Capital Partners could be hatching plans to buy the profitable parts of the business out of administration in a pre-pack deal.
Based in Manchester, Homeform has 160 showrooms across the UK, with 1,300 employees based there and at its Manchester head office. Another 1,500 contractors fit the kitchens and bathrooms, and so are indirectly employed by Homeform.
At least some of the staff have been informed of the impending administration process and were sent home, having lost their jobs.
Aggressive price competition from rival Wren Kitchens was cited as the reason for the company’s situation. Founded in 2009, Wren Kitchen’s creator Mr Healey is the 40th person on the Sunday Times Rich List.
It is understood that about 30 Homeform stores are to be closed within the space of one week. The company was still accepting deposits for furnishings up until Wednesday. Whether these orders will be honoured is not yet clear.
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