Tile Mountain has said its chairman, Mo Iqbal, has bought Coventry-based Capitol Tile Group out of administration, saving 70 jobs.
Capitol Tile Group, which had four distribution warehouses around the UK and 12 retail outlets, fell into administration last week after suffering from severe financial difficulties.
In the 12 months to April 2017, the company posted a pre-tax loss of almost £1 million, down from a small pre-tax profit of £151,757 the year before.
Mo Iqbal, chairman of online tile retailer Tile Mountain, said he was “saddened” about the decline of Capitol Tile Group, of which he was once a customer and “delighted” to be able to secure the jobs of 70 of Capitol Tile Group’s current staff, many of whom he said he knew personally.
The purchase from administrators Begbies Traynor is for an undisclosed sum and only includes Capitol’s wholesale and distribution business. Capitol’s retail outlets have been purchased separately by a third party.
Iqbal said the business will remain in Coventry, and the management team will be led by himself and Tile Mountain co-founder Jeremy Harris, a former Topps Tiles director.
National distribution will be handled from the Coventry warehouse, with Capitol’s Edinburgh, Crawley and Norwich distribution centres earmarked for closure.
Iqbal said: “Having previously bought, developed, and sold Tile Giant, and set up the highly successful e-commerce-based Tile Mountain with my co-directors, it was a natural progression to look at the distribution and ‘business-to-business’ aspects of the industry.
“I had for some time been considering setting up a new company to address this, but then the opportunity to purchase the Capitol Tiles Group arose.
“We will apply our knowledge of the industry alongside the latest advancements in technology to improve the business’s offering, so that once again the Capitol Tile Group will be recognised as a leader in the B2B sector of the industry.
“I believe this acquisition will sit perfectly alongside Tile Mountain for whom I am chairman, and that the synergy between the two businesses will be of benefit to both our consumer and trade customers.”