British furniture company appoints KPMG administrators
A UK furniture producer has appointed administrators from Big Four firm KPMG, following a rocky start to 2018 for retailers and their suppliers. The administrators will aim to secure a buyer as soon as possible to avoid redundancies among the more than 200 strong workforce at QFC.
The UK retail sector bore the brunt of the sluggish growth seen across the British economy in 2018. Low levels of footfall and a decline in consumer spending power due to stagnating wages and rising inflation meant that stores saw in the year with a flurry of profit warnings. With 20 profit warnings in the retail sector in the first half of the year, many suppliers of companies such as Homebase and House of Fraser will also be feeling the pinch, due to the knock-on effect of a downturn in demand.
Now, a Lincolnshire furniture company has become the latest consumer goods producer to have fallen into administration. Since 1993, the Quality Furniture Company (QFC) has assembled more than 250,000 sofas a year for major retail brands, with offices and factories based in Grantham. The company makes sofas for retailers including DFS, Next, Argos, Homebase, Laura Ashley and John Lewis, and employs approximately 271 people.
Chris Pole and Mark Orton from KPMG Restructuring, have been appointed joint administrators to the furniture manufacturer. While as of yet, the administrators say there have been no redundancies, the company will need to secure buyers as soon as possible to evade the necessity of store closures and lay-offs.
Commenting on the situation, Pole said, “Like many operating in the retail sector at the moment, the Quality Furniture Company has been facing challenging market conditions for some time. This, along with cost pressures, a weakened pound and a decline in consumer spending, has impacted trading and has led the directors to take the difficult decision to place the company into administration. We will be looking to trade the business in the short term and would advise any interested parties to contact the joint administrators as soon as possible to express their interest.”
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