EXCLUSIVE: John Lewis stops Alno orders

One of Alno’s most high-profile customers, John Lewis, has confirmed it is stopping orders for Alno kitchens until further notice.

Speaking exclusively to kbbreview, a John Lewis spokesperson said: “Alno are fulfilling existing orders, but we have paused taking new orders for Alno kitchens until we have an update from Alno on their plans.”

The news follows a previous statement from new Alno UK managing director Stuart Welburn who said that it was “still operating business as usual with production in Germany continuing”.

A previous statement was also issued by Alno AG confirming that the entire Alno Group has been put up for sale.

The group said that a mergers and acquisitions consultant had been “entrusted with carrying out an investor process for the entire Alno Group”.

However, Alno UK claimed that the “structured bidding process” is a typical German ‘dual-track’ process and is obligated under German law.

“This would only be pursued at the end of the three-month insolvency process period, should the restructuring plan not be successful,” it said, adding: “Alno UK is confident that the sale of the group will not become necessary.”

Jonathon Wagstaff, former Alno UK chief executive, also reassured dealers that Alno UK wouldn’t be affected by the insolvency process in Germany and said that he expected the group to survive the current restructure.

However, he did admit that there had been “overcapacity in Germany for some time”.

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