Westbridge Furniture Limited, a major UK furniture brand whose products were stocked by retail giants Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, has collapsed into administration, resulting in the loss of 300 jobs.
Administrators appointed
The company called in administrators from Interpath in late March. Chris Pole and Will Wright were appointed as joint administrators and confirmed that 297 staff have been made redundant. Despite initial hopes for a rescue deal, no offers materialised, forcing production to cease on April 2.
Mr Pole expressed gratitude to the workforce, stating: “The team at Westbridge has shown exceptional professionalism in maintaining production while we explored options. We recognise this has been a challenging period for staff and I’d like to express my sincere thanks for their commitment.”
Impact on staff
Affected employees are being supported with claims through the Redundancy Payment Service. The collapse is a significant blow to the high street and the wider furniture industry.
Denby Pottery also affected
In a separate development, Denby Pottery has made a further 49 workers redundant, administrators confirmed. Last month, the 217-year-old pottery firm appointed FRP Advisory to oversee its administration process. The business faced “enormous financial challenges” over recent years and struggled to access business funding due to “tighter financial markets.” Despite searching for a potential buyer, FRP Advisory said it had “not been possible to secure a buyer for the manufacturing operations.”
