Westbridge Furniture Ltd, a British company whose products were stocked by M&S and John Lewis, has collapsed into administration. The firm called in administrators from Interpath last month, leading to the loss of 297 jobs.
Joint administrators Chris Pole and Will Wright were appointed on March 23. Production at the company's site in Holywell, Flintshire, ceased on April 2. A small number of employees were retained to help wind down the business.
The administrators cited “operational disruption, weak trading and the loss of a key customer” as reasons for the collapse. Despite efforts, no buyer was found to take over the company fully.
However, the intellectual property and design rights have been sold to sofa and upholstery manufacturer Whitemeadow. Whitemeadow intends to work with retailers of Westbridge products and plans to reintroduce the designs to the market.
Chris Pole, managing director at Interpath, expressed gratitude to the staff for their professionalism during the process. He noted that the sale of IP and design rights preserves Westbridge's range for retailers.
