Troubled Furniture Retailer Scrambles For A Buyer

13th December 2017.

UK-based furniture retailer, Multiyork, went into administration last month but is now searching for a buyer to avoid leaving 500 workers without a job.

The Norfolk-based firm has already told 112 staff they have lost their jobs and is now scrambling for a last-minute buyer before further redundancies have to be made.

Multiyork collapsed in November, citing difficult trading conditions.

Its administrator Duff & Phelps said it is doubling its efforts to sell all or part of the business.

However, Allan Graham, joint administrator at Duff & Phelps, said: “During this period of managed wind down, the process of selling in-store display items and other business assets will begin. We will also continue to fulfil customer orders.”

Adam Finch, a designer who has worked at Multiyork for four years, said: “There are people who have worked here for 20 years in tears. They don’t know what they are going to do next month.”

Nearly 500 people will remain with the company for now, including staff across its 50 stores and employees at the headquarters in Thetford.

An agreement has yet to be made between the Duff & Phelps and a new buyer, Mr Graham insists a deal would have to be financially beneficial as well as what’s best for the employees.

“While we recognise that there were some offers made, they were not at a level that either produced an acceptable outcome for the company’s stakeholders or could guarantee the future stability of the business.”