Tue, 08 Mar 2022 | ADMINISTRATION
Sven Christiansen, a furniture manufacturer based in Dudley, West Midlands, has entered administration after an accelerated sale process failed to find a buyer for the firm, which ceased trading last month.
Located on the Pensnett Estate in Kingswinford, the company designed, manufactured and installed its own range of office furniture. The business had been trading for close to 50 years, but its working capital was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.
Despite registering record customer orders, the company had accrued a considerable debt pile during the pandemic, an issue that was exacerbated by staff absences in autumn 2021, resulting in sales underperformance. The company was also disrupted by the implementation of new IT systems.
In an effort to save the business, the company undertook an accelerated sales process. However, after an interested party dropped out, a buyer for the company and its assets as a going concern was unable to be found, resulting in trade ceasing and the majority of the workforce being made redundant.
Diana Frangou and Glen Carter of RSM UK Restructuring Advisory LLP were appointed as joint administrators to Sven Christiansen on March 3, at which point the remaining staff were also made redundant.
Diana Frangou commented: "The cashflow issues were such that, following the lack of a buyer for the business as a going concern, the directors had no alternative but to cease trading and to place the company into administration.”
"Regrettably, the company had to make the staff redundant prior to our appointment. Our first priority is to assist them with making their claims from the Redundancy Payments Office and offer general support and advice in these difficult circumstances."
In its most recent financial accounts, for the period October 1 2019 to October 31 2020, the company reported a pre-tax loss of £682,261 on turnover of close to £10 million. At the time, fixed assets were valued at £2.1 million, current assets at £3.7 million and total equity at £2.3 million.
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