Corby-based kitchen furniture company Kettle Home has gone into administration for the second time in as many years, with all 80 members of staff losing their jobs.
Kettle Home was established around April last year, following the administration of Kettle Interiors, a furniture importer and supplier that had been trading with the trade and consumer sectors for over two decades.
Kettle Interiors was originally established in 2003 by John and Rhonda Kettle. When it went into administration in March of last year, it was reported that the business owed £16m, according to the Northamptonshire Telegraph.
Kevin Mapstone and Yiannis Koumettou, both of Begbies Traynor, were appointed as joint liquidators of the company on October 9, and the company’s website has been deactivated.
A sharp rising in the cost of shipping and the impacts of Covid were both blamed as the reason behind the business’ decline. Administrators said that the rising costs had made the business “unsustainable”, and it became unable to continue to trade.
As a result, the company’s directors and shareholders have made the difficult decision to place the business into voluntary liquidation, and the business has now ceased to trade. The business’ entire staff have also been made redundant as a result.
Joint-liquidator Thomas McKay explained: “Unfortunately, the furniture sector has faced some extremely challenging times and with much of Kettle’s stock imported from Asia, the escalating costs of shipping were simply too high for Kettle Home Ltd to be able to continue trading.”
Kevin Mapstone, added: “Having only been appointed a couple of days ago, our team is now working hard to find out more about what has happened and seeking the best possible returns for creditors. We will be writing to all creditors in due course, as well as supporting the former employees at this difficult time to ensure they receive their entitlements as soon as possible.”
In an interview given to Furniture News in October of last year, Kettle Interiors CEO Ian Kettle also blamed rising shipping costs for the demise of the first Kettle company.
According to The Northamptonshire Telegraph, after Kettle Interiors went bust, Kettle Home was “immediately re-opened” on the same site, with several of the company’s directors and staff being re-employed. Reportedly, Kettle Interiors’ stock was estimated at around £6m, but was sold to new company Kettle Home for just £2.76m before the original company went under.
