Major home improvement brand to cease trading immediately after 31 years affecting thousands of customers
A MAJOR home improvement brand is set to cease trading after 31 years, affecting thousands of customers.
Windows and doors brand Safestyle has collapsed into administration and ceased trading straight away.
The company has a manufacturing site in Wombwell, near Barnsley and 42 sales branches and depots across the country.
Each has now ceased trading as of this afternoon.
Administrators at Interpath Advisory have said Safestyle has made around 680 of its workers redundant.
Around 70 of the brand’s 750 employees would be kept on in the short term to help wind down the business.
The company, which first opened back in 1992, suspended its shares from trading in London last Friday after it realised that a rescue deal was unlikely to give shareholders any money back.
Later that day it announced it intended to appoint administrators after failing to find a buyer.
The company’s subsidiary HPAS and holding companies Style Group Holdings and Style Group UK concluded that they could not keep trading as a result.
Safestyle had struggled after facing several pressures, including skyrocketing inflation and poor consumer confidence, administrators said.
The unseasonably warm weather in September also dented demand for its products, which include PVC windows and guard doors.
Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath Advisory, said: “These are really challenging times for companies across the home improvement market.
“After seeing strong sales during the Covid lockdown periods, many companies are seeing trading being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and soaring costs.”
He added that its immediate priority is to provide support to those impacted by redundancy.
Administrators have said customer orders that have not been delivered will not now be fulfilled.
They’re still searching for buyers for some parts of the business, and customers may be able to have their orders completed by any potential new owner.
It means that even if the company is part-way through an installation it will not complete any orders.
Instead customers will need to find an alternative installer, Interpath said
Any customers with outstanding work to be done will not be charged for any remaining balance on their orders.
If they’ve been charged a deposit ahead of an installation, they should try to get that money back through their credit or debit card provider.
If they paid in cash they will not get the money back and will have to register as a creditor of Safestyle.
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