Administrators of Betta Living in search of a buyer
ANTHONY Collier and Ben Woolrych of FRP Advisory have been appointed as administrators of Oldham-based Dean House Ltd, trading as Betta Living.
As TheBusinessDesk reported earlier today (Tuesday), the nationwide retailer of bedroom and kitchen furniture sent the majority of its 300 staff home and closed all 24 stores on Friday, before appointing administrators from FRP Advisory this afternoon.
The administrators have said that they will continue to review the financial position of the company in the interest of creditors, whilst marketing for sale the business, which as well as its retail stores includes a manufacturing plant in Lancashire, stock and other assets.
They say that rising rents had pushed the company into a loss, and put pressure on cash flow.
In a statement FRP Advisory said: “Betta Living has enjoyed a strong reputation with its customer base up and down the country for its range of home and lifestyle furniture and over the past few years has expanded its store footprint rapidly to meet growing demand.
“The company’s annual revenues grew rapidly from around £16m producing profits of around £1m, to annual revenues more recently of around £50m.
“Rising occupational costs from newer space had pushed the company into a loss making position and squeezed cash-flow, more recently to unsustainable levels leaving no viable option other than for the company to seek the protection of administration to allow for a more viable long term solution to be found.”
Collier said that he and Woolrych are working with all stakeholders to find a solution that rescues the business.
He added: “[We] would ask any parties interested in any aspect of the business to make contact as soon as possible. Betta Living is a business with a strong brand and is well known up and down the country.
“At present the business has however ceased to trade and orders are not currently being despatched. We will be reviewing the order book and writing to individual customers this week.”
Betta Living was set up in 1966 under the name Betta Bedrooms.
In 2000 it was taken over by current chairman Noel Dean, who merged Better Bedrooms with his company the English Kitchen Company.
In 2012 Betta Living started supplying bathrooms following the acquisition of a number of Moben and Dolphin showrooms from HomeForm Group.
The company’s most recently filed accounts for the year to November 30, 2014 were signed off in September 2015. They show the company had a turnover of £46.4m (2013: £34.9m) but made a pre-tax loss of £158,000 (2013: £1.7m profit) on an operating loss of £18,000 (2013: £1.6m profit).
In that year it paid £378,000 in dividends to its shareholders.
