Doncaster bathroom retailer to cease trading by end of the year
Troubled bathroom retailer Victoria Plum will be closed by the end of the year.
Having been acquired by rival Victorian Plumbing for £22.5m in May, the writing was on the wall for the Doncaster business with the new parent company investing heavily in a new 544,000sqft headquarters in Leyland near Preston, which is now “fully” operational.
Victoria Plum, which previously went into administration in 2023 and was saved by AHK, cost its new parent company £2m in the last six months.
Mark Radcliffe, CEO of Victorian Plumbing, said: “Our state of the art new distribution centre is now operational and will remove previous capacity constraints, enabling us to serve customers more efficiently and execute on our strategic growth plans in our expansion categories and our trade proposition.
“Moreover, the recent decision to close Victoria Plum provides the Group with a significant opportunity to accelerate growth and continue to further the investment in our brand and marketing.
“This positive momentum and the successful delivery of our warehouse transformation reaffirms confidence in our profitable growth strategy that is delivering long-term value for all stakeholders.”
Victoria Plum was acquired on May 17 and it contributed £15m of revenue and incurred an adjusted EBITDA loss of £2m in the period since the acquisition. The group has recently finalised a consultation process with the South Yorkshire workforce with closure due to take place no later than December 31.
Victorian Plumbing made the announcement as it released full-year trading update, which outlined annual volume growth of 10% while their orders increases by more than 100,000 to more than a million.
