Crown Imperial, one of the biggest names in British kitchens, has reportedly ceased trading, with sister distribution company Waterline saying it is seeking a buyer to secure the future of its business.
Rumours began swirling yesterday of internal announcements and some of the company’s sales reps have been contacting customers to tell them the news.
In an internal memo sent to Waterline staff members, Crown’s employees have now reportedly entered a consultation period regarding their potential redundancy. The memo goes on to state this is “due to the current uncertainty surrounding Waterline’s future, which directly impacts Crown’s operations”.
The memo also explains that “Waterline is actively seeking either a buyer or third-party financial investment to secure the future of the business”.
Crown will also no longer be accepting new orders. According to the company, any existing Crown orders that have already been sent to the warehouse will still be fulfilled, and for any orders that unfortunately can’t be fulfilled, Crown said it will be contacting the affected customers directly.
It also says that there will be no more deliveries from suppliers to Waterline until further notice as it plans to continue to operate “as normal” by selling existing stock.
The memo concludes by saying it is hopeful for “a positive outcome” to the situation.
In a statment, Michael Marriott, CEO of Waterline, said: “Waterline is beginning a process of seeking external investment to secure the future of the business. Like many in our sector, we are currently facing cashflow pressures and are carefully reviewing our options.
“Over the past 12 months we launched a number of promising initiatives, including: expanding into the contracts market; expanding into the electrical retailer market and developing our own OEM product ranges from overseas. To drive these initiatives forward, we have brought in experts in each of these fields to ensure the company has the specialist knowledge required to deliver on these goals.
“These steps are part of a broader strategy to build a stronger, more resilient business. As such, we are exploring several routes to source additional financing and ensure that operations can continue while these initiatives take hold.”
Several Crown dealers described the news as “a massive shock” with one retailer telling kbbreview: “I just had absolutely no idea this was coming. We’ve sold Crown for years and years and never had a problem with them. I’ve had to already reach out to a new supplier in my area because I think they’ll have no shortage of new clients now, and we don’t want to be left without any business.”
The news comes just days after appliance distributor D.A.D called in administrators.
Crown has a long and well-known history in the UK kitchen industry. The company was founded in the 1940s by Len Head as “Crown Products”, which originally began as a nursery furniture business. Crown then diversified into producing high-quality kitchen furniture in the 1980s, and In 1995, its iconic Crown Imperial kitchen range was launched. In 2011, it acquired distributor Waterline and became a multi-service provider.