Manufacturer axes more than 100 jobs following administration

More than 100 redundancies were made as a result of Wyvern Furniture entering administration.

The upholstery manufacturer based in Hartlebury, Worcestershire appointed Diana Frangou and Chris Lewis of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP as joint administrators of Trade Business Limited (trading as Wyvern Furniture) in October.

RSM say an accelerated sales process was carried out, during which trading was suspended. However, a suitable buyer for the business and assets could not be found and trading has ceased.

Some 113 employees were immediately made redundant. RSM says its strategy is ongoing and the team have secured sales of the assets of the company and have also enabled an occupant of part of the Wyvern site that resulted in local employment opportunities.

The company was negatively impacted by losses during the pandemic, with a long closure during the first lockdown. In addition, cost increases followed in the second half of the year, alongside the loss of a key supply chain finance facility following the failure of Greensil Capital. There was also a reduction in orders and sales in the summer months.

Diana Frangou, a restructuring advisory partner at RSM and joint administrator, said “The
cashflow issues were such that following the lack of a buyer for the business the director had no
alternative other than to place the company into Administration.

“Regrettably, we have had to make the staff redundant, and our first priority is to assist them both with making their claims from the Redundancy Payments Office and offering general support and advice in these difficult circumstances.”