Assets belonging to failed kitchen, bathroom and bedroom retailer Norwood Interiors (Brighouse) Ltd are to be sold off at auction.
The company has closed the doors of its Brighouse showroom after running into financial difficulties.
Charles Brook and Michelle Chatterton, of insolvency practice Poppleton & Appleby in Huddersfield, are working with the directors and senior management ahead of a creditors’ meeting on Friday (Aug 4) when a liquidator is expected to be appointed.
The 10,000sq ft showroom in Brighouse houses 30 various displays from a range of manufacturers, including Laura Ashley, together with associated appliances, homeware accessories and other business assets.
Daniel Hey, director at chartered surveyors Walker Singleton, which is handling the sale, said: “The purchase at auction of showroom display furniture and fittings, as of the type on offer, provides homeowners on a budget who aspire to premium interiors, or property investors undertaking refurbishments, an opportunity to buy at a competitive price point.
“The Laura Ashley kitchen has a retail value of over £25,000. All the appliances, bathrooms and accessories are new, simply ex-display.”
Mr Hey said: “The reporting of the demise of the business has led to us receiving several enquires for specific displays, but the commitment is to sell at auction. We are extending our normal viewing arrangements into the evening to allow private buyers an opportunity to inspect outside of working hours.”
Viewing takes place next Wednesday (Aug 9) and the online auction closes at noon on Friday, August 11.
Norwood Interiors employed about 15 staff at Brighouse and had a further 15 to 20 sub-contractors who carried out work on behalf of the firm. It is understood the firm has more than 100 creditors who have paid thousands of pounds for kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms.
A statement released by the firm last month said the Brighouse site had taken on “at great cost” the contracts of customers affected by the closure of a sister operation in Leeds earlier this year.
The owners had also invested heavily in marketing the business and had opened a satellite showroom at Whiteley’s Garden Centre in Mirfield which had helped to generate new business and improve margin.
Another kitchen, bathroom and bedroom business was acquired in Doncaster, but a slowdown in consumer confidence due to an increasingly uncertain economic climate had hit sales and orders – forcing the directors to seek professional advice. With great regret it was concluded that the business could no longer trade.”
