Fired Earth falls into administration

UK tile supplier Fired Earth, which has also collaborated with carpet and rug manufacturers including Westex, has been placed into administration, with all staff being made redundant. Dane O’Hara and Alex Cadwallader of Leonard Curtis were appointed joint administrators for the company at the end of October. With the company’s 20 showrooms now closed, it will now fulfil any remaining customer orders from its Banbury head office and warehouse.

Dane O’Hara said: “Fired Earth has been loss making for some time. In the last three years the company has been supported by its shareholder via substantial working capital loans, while efforts were made to return the business to profitability.

“Unfortunately, the company has continued to incur trading losses, and its investor was not prepared to provide further funding to the business in the absence of a viable turnaround strategy.”

Leornard Curtis says it was approached in late September to undertake an initial review and explore potential options, however it found the business was “incapable of being restructured in its current form,” and so decided to seek a buyer.

Dane continued: “We had multiple offers on an asset only basis, but we have not received a proceedable offer that preserves any of the locations or staff as a consequence.”