Outdoor goods retail chain alerts administrators
Outdoor clothing and equipment retail chain, Winfields Outdoors, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
The application is from Winfield’s Ltd, which is registered at the chain’s Mill Street Haslingden HQ in Lancashire.
Winfield’s Outdoors extends to seven stores throughout England, selling a range of outdoor clothing and equipment, such as tents, motor home awnings and camping equipment.
Trading since 1971, Winfield has dealt with all the leading manufacturers within the camping and caravanning industry, from Sunncamp, Vango, Outwell, Kampa, Coleman, Robens, Easy Camp and more.
Its stores are based in Haslingden, Chester, Redditch, Leeds, Hull, Keswick and Swadlingcote in Derbyshire.
The most recent accounts filed at Companies House for the year to January 31, 2023, showed an 8.98% fall in revenues to £18m
A pre-tax profit of just over £1m in 2022 became a £1.3m pre-tax loss in 2023.
The accounts at the end of 2023 said the company had shareholders’ funds of £4,009,101 (2022-£5,174,386) and that “the directors believe the company’s position to be stable though not satisfactory.”
The director’s report, signed by Mrs June Semeniuk Winfield, said: “Since the COVID outbreak in March 2020, the company continued to take measures to mitigate the impact upon the company and general impact upon trade.
“The company has experienced the perceived impact upon both buying and selling patterns on (sic) the wake of the global pandemic. This has impacted on not only supply chain issues with increased costs but also seasonality and pan-annual buying patterns of customers.
“It is expected that the normal pattern and mix of sales will return, albeit over the next couple of years.”
The accounts also reveal that, at the time of approving the financial statements, the director had a reasonable expectation that the company had adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
Winfield’s is owed £4.3m by a related business, which is controlled by a close family relation of the director.
This amount had not been repaid subsequent to the year end, and the business had not yet begun trading; the related business holds stock at a cost of approximately £3.4,m which would yield in excess of £6m when sold, enabling repayment of the amount due.
The company has been contacted for comment.
