Thu, 16 Oct 2025 | ADMINISTRATION
Administrators are set to realise the assets of one of the UK’s largest kitchen and bathroom distributors, with the business to be wound down after a sale fell through. Waterline Limited, which was founded in 1947, was among the UK’s largest independent wholesale distributors within the kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms sectors.
The company had depots across the country and had previously traded successfully, seeing particularly strong growth during 2021 and 2022. However, since then, the company has gone into decline due to a number of adverse factors.
Challenges the company has faced included the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions (which has been linked to a drop off in spending on home improvements, following a major surge during the pandemic), increasing interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis, which led to a significant reduction in consumer spending.
In the year to March 31 2024, the company reported turnover of £44.3 million, down from £56.5 million a year earlier, while gross profit fell from £11.8 million to £8.3 million. The business ultimately reported an operating loss of £2.2 million, compared to a profit of roughly £390,000 the previous year.
The company’s financial issues meant it was forced to rely on its shareholders to provide funding support, a situation that became no longer viable in 2025. As a result, the board of directors opted to market and sell the business.
A sale fell through, however, and the lack of long-term funding available to the business meant that a decision was made to approach Leonard Curtis to assess its financial position. Leonard Curtis was formally instructed in September 2025 and initiated an accelerated M&A process.
Despite some parties expressing interest in certain of the company’s assets, mainly its stock and intellectual property rights, there was little appetite for acquiring the business as a going concern. This led to Alex Cadwallader and Dane O’Hara of Leonard Curtis being appointed as joint administrators on October 9 2025.
Leonard Curtis’ multi-disciplinary teams, including its performance advisory specialists, have prepared a wind down plan to benefit the company as a whole and assist the Retention of Title suppliers in collecting their stock whilst realising the value of the company’s other assets.
In its most recent accounts, the company’s current assets were valued at £9.8 million, with net assets amounting to approximately £5.2 million.
Administrator Alex Cadwallader commented: “We are disappointed that a sale did not take place, despite reaching out to both industry and non-industry specific parties as part of our regulated process.”
Cadwallader attributed the failure to find a buyer to external pressures both across the wider economy and within the sector specifically.
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