Major furniture maker that supplies ‘leading brands' across UK abruptly ceases trading with ALL workers to lose jobs
Andrew Paul Furniture, which supplied "leading brands" across the UK, had to cease trading.
1
The major furniture maker, which manufactured chairs and sofas for well-known brands, has closed down after a decline in sales.
Andrew Paul Furniture employs 178 highly skilled wood machinists, frame makers and upholsterers in Long Eaton who will now lose their livelihood.
The firm stopped trading on June 26 after 15 years on the market and is about to go into liquidation.
This means that all employees will be let off and the company's assets will be liquidated in an effort to pay off its debts.
Post-Covid struggles
According to the company's financial records for 2024, Andrew Paul Furniture has provided goods to "leading brands" and is a part of the "recognised centre of excellence for upholstered furniture" in Long Eaton.
The furniture maker produced "modern designs to high specifications" by combining traditional craft and the latest technology.
But the firm struggled with a challenging market climate following Covid-19.
In the report, bosses said: "Like all manufacturers in the furniture trade, business has been very difficult and cutbacks in all areas of the business have had to be made.
"The company has experienced a slight downturn in trade and in recent years has made losses."
The firm owes £2million in debt
The financial filings have also revealed that the firm owes creditors over £2million over the course of the next year.
The lion's share of this money, around £1million, is owed to other businesses which had worked with the furniture maker.
The company had implemented a restructuring programme in a bid to save itself from bankruptcy and even moved its production to Meadow Lane premises to reduce costs.
However, in the same financial report the firm had admitted that its future was uncertain.
Despite the efforts, Andrew Paul Furniture saw a decrease in turnover from £14,242,283 in 2023 to £12,944,655 in the previous year.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Don't hike tax again, pleads Currys boss: Alex Baldock warns Chancellor another raid will hurt jobs and lead to higher prices
The boss of Currys has warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that further tax hikes will hurt growth and jobs as retailers are still reeling from her last Budget. Chief executive Alex Baldock said the Government should 'think very carefully before they make the situation any worse'. But shares in Currys soared as he insisted the UK's biggest electronics retailer could 'swim against the tide'. Baldock's warning came as experts poured cold water on Labour's claims to have fixed the economy since coming to power. Leading economists warned of the inevitability of tax rises after Keir Starmer's welfare bill humiliation blew a £5billion hole in the public finances. 'Recent policy decisions mean that in the absence of tax hikes or alternative spending cuts, fiscal rules would be broken in the autumn,' Bruna Skarica, chief UK economist at Morgan Stanley, said.'We think tax hikes look most likely.' But Baldock warned that would result in fewer jobs, less investment and higher prices for consumers. He said Currys cut back on hiring after Reeves raised employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage. Baldock said: 'We want to be helping to grow the economy and bring investment into the UK.... retailers would like to do it and would be able to do more of it with a more helpful policy environment. 'The tax burden retailers already suffer is dampening the contribution we could make, any further tax burden would further dampen growth, investment and employment and increase prices.' The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) spelled out the Chancellor's predicament, saying she had sowed uncertainty with a prolonged gap between the election and her first Budget and an 'erosion of confidence'. As public finance figures worsened, firms worried about further tax rises, making them reluctant to invest and hire. And with U-turns, from winter fuel payments to welfare, as well as plans to hike defence spending, Reeves must find money from somewhere. Ben Caswell, economist at NIESR, said it was likely to mean 'significant tax rises' with current policies 'not sustainable'. Currys yesterday reported annual profits of £162million, 37 per cent up on a year earlier. Group revenue rose 3 per cent to £8.7billion in the 12 months to May 3. UK sales were driven by demand for Currys' mobile phone and computing businesses. It also reported that health and beauty products were growing fast. The recent heatwave has boosted sales of fans, air conditioning units and barbecues. The balance sheet is the strongest in a decade, with net cash of £184million. Currys reinstated its dividend for the first time in two years as it proposed a payout of 1.5p per share. Shares closed 7.1 per cent, or 8.4p, higher at 126.9p.
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Resilient' City boosts Peel Hunt: Broker enjoys 'a strong start' to the new financial year
Peel Hunt hailed fresh signs of life in the City as market conditions 'improve' and investor confidence proves 'increasingly resilient' in the face of global uncertainty. As anxiety over the health of the London stock market spreads through the Square Mile and Westminster, it enjoyed 'a strong start' to its financial year. The investment bank's revenues for the three months to the end of June were 'comfortably ahead' of the same period last year, lifting its shares 5.4 per cent, or 5p, to 98p. The upbeat tone is particularly notable because Peel Hunt has been vocal in raising concerns over an exodus of firms from the stock exchange. On Wednesday, it said the UK was on course for 'the biggest year of takeovers since 2021' after a flurry of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the first six months. Many bids have come from private equity and the US as bargain-hunting predators swoop on undervalued firms in London. At the same time, London has been rocked by defections to other bourses, with reports this week suggesting AstraZeneca – the UK's largest listed company with a value of £162billion – could move its listing to New York. A lack of new listings through initial public offerings (IPOs) means that these companies are not being replaced, sparking fears of decline. But at the annual general meeting yesterday, Peel Hunt bosses, led by chief executive Steven Fine, said: 'We have had a strong start to our new financial year as market conditions have begun to improve. 'Whilst the macroeconomic background is hard to predict, investor confidence appears to be increasingly resilient.' It highlighted 'higher revenue generation' across key arms of the business and added: 'We have a strong pipeline of M&A transactions, with a number of situations announced and in process.' However, bosses expressed fresh concern about the lack of new listings, which form a key revenue stream. Set up in 1989, Peel Hunt now acts for 55 FTSE 350 companies. £662m US fund exodus Investors pulled money out of US-focused equity funds for the first time in six months in May amid Donald Trump's tariff chaos. Some £622million was withdrawn, including a record £303million from smaller US firms, Investment Association (IA) data showed. UK equity outflows fell to £354million – the lowest in nearly four years of dismal performance for the London market – and European funds recorded inflows of £435million. IA market insight director Miranda Seath said: 'This shift in sentiment benefited sales to European equity funds, where European stocks have performed well in 2025, and helped stem outflows from UK funds.'
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fight to keep AstraZeneca British: Labour is failing miserably to back a vital industry, says ALEX BRUMMER
Reviving UK share investment is among the most pressing challenges facing Britain. All being well Rachel Reeves plans to raise the issue in her Mansion House speech later this month. There is plenty for the Chancellor to get her teeth into. The London stock market is under siege. The sad sight of the directors of instrument maker Spectris selling out to KKR for £4.1billion should be an alarm signal. Most chilling is the prospect of Britain's largest listed company, AstraZeneca, moving its share quote to New York. The Government's first priority, as it seeks to calm nervy markets after the welfare reform fiasco, should be to prevent such a catastrophe for UK plc. It is unlikely that Astra has immediate plans to go. But in his darkest moments chief executive Sir Pascal Soriot flirts with the idea as its focus has shifted from Britain to investment in the US and China. In weighing the matter one should never, however, underestimate the depth of its European roots in Britain and Sweden. It is this rich research heritage which protected it from disappearing into the hands of American competitor Pfizer in 2014. The departure of the FTSE 100's most valuable constituent and a company in one of the Government's earmarked growth sectors would be a disaster for the London Stock Exchange, the City, advisory groups and UK life sciences. If the share quotation goes, so would command and control, brain power, and some research and development. Labour needs to understand how alienated big pharma has become. Keir Starmer's refusal to back a vaccine plant in Speke, outside Liverpool, was a diabolical error for a Government needing growth industries. Instead, it prefers to pile cash into decarbonising steel production. The vaccine facility may be water under the bridge. What sticks in the craw is the failure of Health Secretary Wes Streeting, so far, to deliver on pledges to the drugs industry before and after the election. Britain is brilliant at developing new medicines and the surge in Astra's valuation over the last decade has been driven by its breakthrough remedies for immunology compounds to treat cancers. As a beneficiary of oncology advances, I have reason to be eternally thankful. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which stepped up its game during the pandemic, has proved effective at offering fast-track approvals. It is an improvement on the European Medicines Agency which moved from Canary Wharf to the Hague after Brexit. The UK blockages come at Nice, the agency which does cost benefit analysis for new drugs and devices. Its hesitancy and flawed analysis have undermined the NHS as a great testbed for new drugs which could be great income-spinners for the UK. There was, quite frankly, anger when the Government's recent industrial strategy emerged and the promised life sciences review failed to appear. The industry also has been alienated by a deal under which the rebate to the Government on drug sales was arbitrarily raised to 22.9 per cent from 15 per cent. In effect, it represents a stealth tax on the UK's leading-edge pharma and bioscience companies. As a source pointed out, the cure for ballooning welfare bills – a consequence of the 700,000 people added to benefit rolls since Covid – is better health outcomes. The preventative way of getting people back to work is through vaccines. GSK is a global leader in such cures. Astra is a powerhouse of new medicines. And Smith & Nephew is a leading force in high-tech surgical dressings, sports ailments and body replacement devices. A change of language is required. 'Life sciences' sounds pleasant enough but is too vague and all but meaningless to patients. They need to understand how new pills, drugs, medicines, painkillers and other palliatives can make their lives better and help them avert the grim reaper. Britain has the companies which can do that, and the connection must be made. Labour is failing miserably to back a vital industry. The Prime Minister, Rachel Reeves and Wes Streeting are in danger of betraying a key contributor to the nation's health and welfare.
