Sofa Workshop in administration but new owner could be in place by next week

24th January | upholstery | Sofa Workshop went into administration on Friday but an offer for the ailing firm is already being evaluated. Corporate recovery firm Leonard Curtis has been on standby for more than two weeks after the 30-store chain filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator on 8th January.

The identity of the bidder has not been revealed but trade sources have indicated that the firm’s founder Andrew Cussins could be interested in reviving Sofa Workshop’s fortunes.

He sold the business to MFI in 2002, and tried unsuccessfully to buy it back five years later before it was eventually sold on to cabinet retailer New Heights. Both MFI and New Heights have subsequently collapsed.

Sofa Workshop’s spell in administration is expected to be brief after joint administrators Neil Bennett, Michael Healy and Paul Reeves of Leonard Curtis said they were evaluating a serious bid and that other interested parties had already come forward.

Sofa Workshop employs some 170 people and had sales of £30m in the year to May 2008.

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