Details surrounding the administration of retailer Furniture Barn (comprising two companies directed by Richard Kimbell, The Furniture Barn Ltd and Furniture Barn of Market Harborough Ltd) have emerged. The largest unsecured creditor and major supplier to Furniture Barn has been revealed to be the Czech-based Global Home, which is owed in excess of $5m plus a further £660k in respect of goods supplied and term loans.
In August 2015, amid growing concerns over the retailer's ability to repay its mounting debt, Global Home prompted a company review, before issuing a formal demand for repayment of the debt and effectively withdrawing its support for the retailer.
Consequently, Furniture Barn entered administration, on December 4th 2015 and FRP Advisory's Nigel Hamilton Smith and Geoff Rowley were appointed joint administrators. FRP sees the sale of the company as a going concern as the best solution for minimising disruption and preserving the businesses' value. However, it notes that a customer order book totalling £1.47m is likely to prove a major deterrant.
Trading will continue under license for six months, servicing new and ongoing Furniture Barn customer orders across the seven retail stores. The Thurrock and Sutton Coldfield stores are due to close by the end of the month.
Global and other suppliers have granted new credit terms for the administration period, during which the companies' remaining assets will be realised and its directors investigated.
