Jobs lost after furniture maker ceases trading

A West Yorkshire-based furniture manufacturer is now in the hands of administrators after its entire workforce was made redundant.

James Sleight and Oliver Collinge of PKF GM were appointed as administrators of Bluespot Furniture Ltd on 20 January 2023.

The firm, which employed an average of 36 staff during the year ended 30 September 2021, was an established furniture manufacturer in the commercial interiors, student accommodation, build-to-rent and house building markets.

It designed, made and installed furniture from production facilities in Dewsbury.

Following a sustained decline in turnover and the sale by its landlord of its trading premises the business ceased trading, with all its staff losing their jobs, prior to the appointment of administrators.

The administrators are now arranging for a sale of the company’s remaining assets.

Sleight, joint administrator, said: “Unfortunately the demand for office furniture was understandably very low during Covid and is not expected to recover to pre pandemic levels.

“The company had obtained support under various Government schemes during the pandemic and with low demand, rising costs and pandemic debt to repay, the directors did not feel the business was sufficiently viable to justify continued trade.

“Following our appointment we are now supporting employees in accessing Government redundancy support and seeking to maximise realisations through a disposal of the remaining company assets and collection of its book debt ledger.

“This is the second appointment over an office furniture manufacturer we’ve had since the pandemic. This sector is clearly experiencing significant challenges with the rise in hybrid and home working.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close