Vision paid £135,000 for the Desk Centre
TEXTILES to office furniture group Vision Support Services paid £135,000 for the business and assets of the Desk Centre.
The Desk Centre, based in Birkenhead, collapsed in the summer with debts of around £2.5m. According to an administrators’ report secured creditors – owed £443,000 – face a shortfall while unsecured creditors will get nothing.
Administrators at Ernst & Young said the business was marketed for eight weeks before going into administration but there was little interest.
Manchester-based Vision’s offer was the best, they said, as it secured the firm’s 38 jobs and generated more cash from stock and goodwill than would have been available if the business had gone into liquidation.
Vision’s bid included £65,000 for goodwill and it paid an additional £30,000 to cover staff wages for July.
The Desk Centre was ultimately owned by Anglo Continental Holdings, a Northwich-based leveraged buyout business managed by Adele Callan, Kevin Devine and Andrew Wall.
Anglo also controlled Bury-based Sella Office Seating and its sister operation, Dundee-based Sella Office Furniture. These businesses were among the Desk Centre’s biggest creditors, owed around £500,000.
This unpaid debt pushed Sella into administration in August. It was bought by a Lichfield turnaround specialist headed by Steve Withers called The Business Fort.
