200 jobs lost as floor firm fails

Around 200 jobs have been lost after specialist retailer Floors 2 Go collapsed into administration for the second time in three years.

Some 53 stores have shut but 35 shops have been bought by Nixon & Hope, a company set up by former management at the retailer, saving 162 jobs, administrator Senate Recovery said.

Floors 2 Go previously fell into administration in 2008, when it was owned by private equity firm Alchemy Partners. The original founders of the chain, the Hodges family, then bought it back in 2009.

Floors 2 Go is the latest homewares company to fall into administration after furniture chain Lombok and interior designer Habitat in the UK folded earlier this year.

The Birmingham-based firm is one of the UK's biggest wood flooring specialists, selling laminate and wooden flooring, carpets, underlay, beading, door bars, rugs and door mats.

The company is reportedly working with restructuring firm Resolve in a bid to turn its fortunes around.

Customer orders placed at stores which have closed will be honoured by Nixon & Hope through the remaining outlets, the administrator said.

Its shops in Bilston, Oldbury and Great Barr in the West Midlands were not trading yesterday and stock had been cleared from the Bilston store, according to reports.

Jim Hodkinson, who joined as chairman in January, left Floors 2 Go in May, while other directors, Michael Coleman and Parjinder Sangha, have left.

In January, Floors 2 Go unveiled a £3.25 million injection from the investment vehicle Hotbed which the retailer planned to put towards opening 60 new shops.

Floors 2 Go began as a family business in Birmingham in 1999. It floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2004, evolving from a cash and carry-type warehouse to retail superstores in prime locations. It was bought for £52.4 million in December 2006 by Alchemy Partners.

Source:PA