Whitfield & Lindsay pre-pack; Owners reopen store and trade as Clifford Centre Furnishers

14th August 2009 | independents | The owners of north-east furniture retailer Whitfield & Lindsay have completed an ‘orderly wind down of its five stores,’ and bought back the remaining assets of the business following a pre-pack administration.

The firm has reopened its Stanley store in County Durham and is now trading as Clifford Centre Furnishers. It is also renting its old warehouse and offices in Birtley from the administrator, and is expected to complete a deal to buy the freehold for the site.

The closing down of stores in Hartlepool, Stockton, Sunderland and Gateshead has been ongoing since the end of 2008, according to Simon Lundy, insolvency director at the Newcastle office of Begbies Traynor, who told the Furnishing Report that a fall in orders and a refusal by landlords to ‘do a deal’ meant a pre-pack administration was necessary.

He added that all staff were made redundant, but some were now being  re-employed at the new store and at the firm’s warehouse and offices.

‘The firm was paying high rents on some of the sites, and unfortunately there was no possibility of doing anything with the leases,’ he said.

Whitfield & Lindsay (Durham) Ltd went into administration on 31st July, with the remaining assets bought by Whitfield & Lindsay Ltd, trading as Clifford Centre Furnishers.

In the 12 months to 31st May 2008, Whitfield & Lindsay (Durham) made a loss of £397,770 on a turnover of £3,494,896.