680 jobs go as Safestyle winds down
Safestyle administrators Rick Harrison and Will Wright, from Interpath Advisory, said the majority of the firm’s 750 staff have been made redundant. Around 70 staff members have been retained for the short term to ensure an orderly wind-down of the company.
Harrison and Wright were appointed joint administrators to H.P.A.S Limited, trading as Safestyle UK, Style Group Holdings Limited and Style Group UK Limited (together “the Group”) on Monday.
Bradford-headquartered Safestyle UK has a large manufacturing facility in Wombwell, near Barnsley, and operates from a network of 42 sales branches and installation depots across the UK.
Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath Advisory, said: “These are really challenging times for companies across the home improvement market. After seeing strong sales during the COVID lockdown periods, many companies are seeing trading being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and soaring costs.
“Unfortunately for Safestyle, and despite the tireless efforts of the management team over recent months, these challenges have proven too difficult to overcome. This will be particularly devastating for the Company’s employees, as well as the many self-employed contractors who worked on behalf of the Company. Our immediate priority will be to provide support to those impacted by redundancy, including supporting them in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service where relevant.”
The administrators said that although Safestyle was unable to find a buyer before going into administration, they continue to look for third parties to buy parts of the business or its assets.
In the meantime, the firm cannot fulfill customer orders. Those who have booked work are advised to find another firm, those who have ongoing work should find another firm to complete it,. and those who have paid deposits should contact their debit or credit card provider for guidance on how to claim the deposit back. Customers who are paying installments on completed work should continue to pay.
