Quantuma advises on rapid sale of home improvements company
Restructuring consultancy Quantuma has advised on the sale of home products company Apple Panels, which traded as Apple Home Improvements, to conservatory and door supplier County Windows. Quantuma completed an immediate sale of Apple Panels – which had appointed the firm as its administrator on the same day – though this was still too late to save more than 30 jobs at the company.
Following a busy 2018, as a number of previously up-and-coming UK businesses have floundered amid difficult trading conditions, business advisory firm Quantuma has commenced the New Year with a flurry of further administration engagements. The business advisory firm specialises in corporate recovery and restructuring procedures, with offices in London, Southampton, Bristol, Marlow, Watford, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Ringwood and Weymouth. The firm was recently appointed the administrator for Manor House School following the private educational facility’s acrimonious closure.
Now, Quantuma has advised on the sale of home products company Apple Home Improvements to conservatory and door supplier County Windows. Founded in 2000, Bournemouth-based windows, doors and conservatories provider Apple Home Improvements had showrooms in West Parley, Southampton and Weymouth, and a turnover of £11 million, but ceased to trade before Christmas, with the loss of 34 jobs in the process.
The firm seemingly succumbed to a combination of challenging market conditions and difficulties with accessing working capital from financiers in a timely manner. Quantuma was then initially contacted to assist with the liquidation of Apple Home Improvements’ assets; however, the consultancy’s team soon realised that there were actually a number of interested parties which would make a sale possible.
As a result, joint administrators Andrew Watling and Simon Campbell were able to immediately complete a pre-pack sale of the business upon their appointment on 23 January 2019, with the assistance of solicitors Steele Raymond and quantity surveyors Kinetica Consult. The sale to Winchester-based County Windows is set to safeguard outstanding customer contracts and enhance recoveries for the benefit of creditors, while the company will relaunch branches in Southampton and Bournemouth, with a trading catchment from Weymouth to Chichester and up to Guildford.
Commenting on the sale, Southampton-based Quantuma Partner Andrew Watling said, “It became clear that there were several other companies who were interested in its work-in-progress and contracts. Because of the particular circumstances involved, the value of these were diminishing on a daily basis, and so we embarked on a period of marketing and subsequently received a number of offers from potential buyers. By seeking our advice and expertise, the Director of Apple Panels ensured that we were able to find a solution that should improve the outcome for many creditors and consumers – a positive result for the region.”
Quantuma was recently involved in another home improvements restructuring. That saw BCF Heating and Plumbing agree upon a Company Voluntary Arrangement, securing the jobs of its entire workforce. The deal will see the heating and plumbing contractor pay back its creditors in full over the course of a 13-month period.
