Selasa, 01 November 2022

Pandemic furniture star Made.com nears collapse - BBC

Made.comChris Batson / Alamy Stock Photo

Online furniture retailer Made.com has moved a step closer towards administration after the company's shares were suspended on Tuesday.

The firm announced last week that rescue talks to find a buyer for the business had so far failed.

It has stopped taking new orders and bosses have warned cash reserves could run out if further funding cannot be raised.

Made.com, which was launched in 2011, employed 700 staff at the end 2021.

During the pandemic, the firm's sales surged as people at home during lockdown bought more furniture and other homeware online.

But the company has lately hit problems, as households cut back on big-ticket items due to the rising cost of living and global supply chain issues have left customers waiting months for deliveries.

On Tuesday, Made.com announced that trading in its shares had been suspended. It also said it intended to appoint administrators which means the firm is not in administration but heading towards it.

The move gives the company 10 days of breathing space to find new backers or sell all or part of the business, a company source told the BBC.

Some Made furniture
Made

They added that the retailer's board was still "exploring every option available".

In a statement, the firm said it had "received proposals" from interested parties.

However, it said it was likely the company would have to be "wound up" and delisted from the stock exchange before being sold on.

A surge in growth led to Made being listed on the London Stock Exchange in June last year at a value of £775m.

Sales at the business hit £315m in 2020, a year-on-year rise of 30%. They then grew by 63% in the first three months of 2021 to £110m.

The business was co-founded by Ning Li and Brent Hoberman, best-known for starting Lastminute.com, as well as Chloe Macintosh and Julien Callède.

Ning Li came up with the idea of sourcing directly from designers and manufacturers and selling their furniture on the Made.com website, targeting a computer-savvy audience.

Although Mr Hoberman is no longer actively involved in the running of the company, he is still a shareholder, as is Ning Li, who was chief executive until the end of 2016 and is currently a non-executive director.

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2022-11-01 08:43:48Z
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