Bathroom online giant Victoria Plum has been sold in a pre-pack administration deal following weeks of speculation about the company’s future.
Owner Endless LLP appointed administrators from Ernst & Young on Friday (September 29), who then immediately completed a sale to AHK Designs – whose affiliate, Giomani Designs, owns other online retailers Beds.co.uk and Cox & Cox.
A statement from Ernst & Young says that any customers who have placed an order which is yet to arrive will not receive their products and will not get a refund unless it’s from their credit card provider.
Victoria Plum, which says it is the UK’s largest online only bathroom retailer, sells own label products as well as brands such as Bristan, Mira, Grohe, Ideal Standard, Rak Ceramics, VitrA, and Aqualisa – who will now become unsecured creditors.
The list of unsecured creditors will also include the independent bathroom fitters who carry out Victoria’s Plum installation work. Just hours before the sale was revealed, the British Institute of KBB Installation (BiKBBI) said many installers were “anxious about outstanding financial liabilities owed by the business for installation work completed.”
BiKBBI chief executive Damian Walters said that he had “spoken to a number of concerned installers this morning who fear being left high and dry.”
AHK Designs has confirmed that the acquisition includes Victoria Plum’s head office and nationwide distribution network, with all the company’s 300 employees transferring to the new owner.
Endless acquired Victoria Plum in 2019 and oversaw three years of profitable growth. However, in a statement AHK said that “significant cost inflation in global freight costs and cost of living pressures” had impacted profitability and cash flows in recent months and the business it would benefit from being part of a larger group which owned complementary businesses.
Aamir Khurshid from AHK Designs said: “Victoria Plum is a leading online retailer of bathroom products with a strong brand and market-leading product. We are pleased to be investing in the future of the business and look forward to welcoming all of Victoria Plum’s employees into AHK Designs.”
Creditors should contact [email protected] for more details.