Safestyle UK cuts 680 jobs after falling into administration
- Interpath Advisory revealed that all but about 70 of the company’s employees had lost their jobs
- Safestyle UK has suffered a slowdown in the housing market this year
Around 680 employees at Safestyle UK have lost their jobs after the company went into administration.
Interpath Advisory, appointed administrators of the door and window manufacturer, revealed that all but around 70 of the company’s employees had lost their jobs.
The remaining employees have been retained to assist in the “orderly wind-down of the group,” Interpath added.
Redundancies: Around 680 workers at Safestyle UK have lost their jobs after the door and window maker fell into administration
Safestyle UK operates 42 sales branches and installation depots in Great Britain and has a manufacturing plant in Wombwell, South Yorkshire.
It has suffered a slowdown in the UK housing market, largely caused by mortgage rate hikes, inflationary pressures and subdued consumer confidence.
During the summer, trading was further affected by very wet weather in July, followed by unusually warm weather in late August and early September.
Early this month, the Bradford-based company warned it could breach its debt covenant if losses were greater than expected.
Interpath was brought in to explore strategic options, but Safestyle said last week it did not expect a refinancing or capital injection and that shareholders were unlikely to make money from a sale.
As a result, trading on the AIM market was suspended on Friday for Safestyle UK shares, which had already fallen by around 99 percent since the start of the year.
That same day, subsidiary HPAS and holding companies Style Group Holdings and Style Group UK realized they could not continue trading, so Safestyle called in the administrators.
Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath Advisory, commented: “These are truly challenging times for companies in the home improvement market.
‘After seeing strong sales during the Covid lockdown periods, many businesses are seeing their trading affected by the cost of living crisis and rising costs.
‘Unfortunately for Safestyle, and despite the tireless efforts of the management team over recent months, these challenges have proven too difficult to overcome.’
Lee Parkinson, organizer at GMB union, said: ‘Safestyle UK workers have been completely let down by mismanagement from the top levels of the company.
‘More than 600 workers have been cruelly cut off from work weeks before Christmas, with no guarantee that they will receive even last week’s wages.
“The impact of this closure on the Barnsley community cannot be overstated. It’s just devastating. We urgently need answers about where the money went.”