200 stores close in Carpetright rescue

Carpet company Tapi has agreed to buy rival business Carpetright out of administration. Tapi, a company set up by Martin Harris, the son of Carpetright founder Lord Harris of Peckham, will buy the Carpetright brand, 54 stores and two warehouses. The deal excludes more than 200 Carpetright shops, which will now close. Tapi said: “We are desperately sad not to have been able to save more of the business and customer orders. However, as we looked into the details of the situation, we quickly established that saving the entire business was unviable. “Carpetright has been materially loss-making for a number of years, and it has significant debt held by the owner. We believe that we were the only offer that the administrator received that saved a large number of roles.” Zelf Hussain, joint administrator at PwC, which was appointed to the chain yesterday, said: “Carpetright has fallen victim to challenges facing many retailers, especially those selling big-ticket items. A mixture of factors, including a big reduction in consumer spending due to cost-of-living pressures, lower home sales and a debilitating cyber-attack made it impossible for the business to continue in its current form. “The sale of some stores and the brand to Tapi has allowed over 300 jobs to be saved and gives the Carpetright brand the chance to continue and flourish under its new ownership.” Sites that will be transferred as part of the Tapi deal are: Basildon, Birmingham – Erdington, Bishopbriggs, Bristol – Longwell Green, Camborne, Camden, Carmarthen, Cheadle, Chesterfield, Chichester, Chippenham, Clapham Common, Coventry – Airport Retail Park, Cramlington, Croydon, Dumbarton, Dumfries, East Sheen, Edinburgh  – Hermiston Gait, Epsom, Farnborough, Friern Barnet, Haywards Heath, Hemel Hempstead, Hereford, High Wycombe – Loudwater, Holloway, Hove, Ipswich – Anglia Park, Lancaster, Leeds – Kirkstall, Maidstone, Mansfield, New Malden, Newbury, Newmarket, North Shields, Norwich – Sprowston, Peterborough, Plymouth – Marsh Mills, Southampton – Hedge End, Stockton, Swindon – Bridgemead, Teddington, Trowbridge, Truro, Washington – Armstrong, West Wickham, Weston-Super-Mare, Weymouth, Whetstone, Wimbledon, Woking, Yeovil, Chessington Warehouse, Croydon Warehouse. PwC said it would retain employees at the company’s head office in Purfleet, Essex, for a short time to support in winding down operations, but some 1,018 employees would be made redundant immediately. Photo by Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures/Shutterstock (14595549g)