Carpetright in administration: company confirms these Sussex sites have been sold as Tapi issues refund advice

PwC announced today (Monday, July 22) that Zelf Hussain, Rachael Wilkinson and Peter Dickens of PwC, have been appointed as the joint administrators of Carpetright Ltd.

PwC said that the Joint Administrators completed a sale of 54 stores and two logistics hubs to CWHP Ltd., which is part of the Tapi Group. They said the transaction includes the transfer of 308 employees.

The list of the sites transferred includes Chichester, Haywards Heath and Hove in Sussex.

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Mr Hussain said: “Carpetright has fallen victim to challenges facing many retailers, especially those selling big ticket items. A mixture of factors, including a big reduction in consumer spending due to cost of living pressures, lower home sales and a debilitating cyber attack made it impossible for the business to continue in its current form. The sale of some stores and the brand to Tapi has allowed over 300 jobs to be saved, and gives the Carpetright brand the chance to continue and flourish under its new ownership.

“However, it is deeply saddening that for the remainder of the workforce there will be redundancies. We are committed to helping those affected and will make sure redundancy claims are processed as quickly as possible. In collaboration with Tapi, we will assist in efforts to help individuals find new jobs elsewhere. We know this is an uncertain time for many of those affected and want to thank all the staff for the support they have given the company in these difficult circumstances.”

PwC said administrators are working closely with the Redundancy Payments Service to make sure those affected receive their statutory entitlements. They said Tapi Group has shown a ‘strong dedication’ to assisting affected Carpetright employees by working with other retailers to ensure that their job applications receive priority.

Carpetright was founded in 1988 and operates across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, currently having 273 stores and 1,898 employees.

Tapi has now published a letter to customers on its website, confirming that it has acquired 54 stores.

It said: “This is now a different company, with different owners. All other Carpetright stores will close, with only the 54 remaining open.”

It added: “We are temporarily shutting these 54 stores for a couple of days while we set them up to be able to operate again.”

The letter continued: “As you may have seen on the news, Tapi Carpets and Floors Limited has rescued the Carpetright brand, IP and 54 stores following the administration of Carpetright Ltd. This will save the jobs of over 300 people, whilst enabling Tapi to expand into a number of areas we don’t currently serve.

“We are desperately sad not to have been able to save more of the business and customer orders. However, as we looked into the details of the situation, we quickly established that saving the entire business was unviable. Carpetright has been materially loss making for a number of years, and it has significant debt held by the owner. We believe that we were the only offer that the administrator received that saved a large number of roles. We were also mindful of how the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may view a larger deal.”

Tapi said that to support employees facing redundancy, it has funded a service through Clarity Recruiting, offering: free employment workshops covering CV preparation, interview skills and job search strategies. Tapi added they have contacted retailers to ‘help introduce affected Carpetright staff to new roles’. The letter said: “We’ve asked these retailers to prioritise their application, helping them return to work as quickly as possible. Full details have been shared directly with those affected.”

The letter also contains information about how customers at one of the 54 saved stores, or one of the closing stores, can get a refund.

For customers of the 54 saved stores with an outstanding order, it said: “If you paid by credit card – please contact your provider and initiate a section 75 refund. There is helpful advice on this from Martin Lewis here. You can then place your new order with new Carpetright company. If you paid by finance – please contact the provider, if it is Novuna, then you can contact them here (www.novuna.co.uk/contact-us). You can then place your new order with the new Carpetright company. If you paid by cash, cheque or debit card – please contact the store from Friday.”

The advice for people who placed an unfulfilled order with a Carpetright store that is not one of the 54 saved stores before July 12 is as follows:

“If you paid by credit card – you should contact your provider and initiate a section 75 refund. There is helpful advice on this from Martin Lewis here (www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases). You can then place your new order with Tapi (www.tapi.co.uk) or the new Carpetright company (locations above) when it re-opens on Friday."If you paid by finance – please contact the provider, if it is Novuna , then you can contact them here (www.novuna.co.uk/contact-us). You can then place your new order with Tapi or the new Carpetright company (locations above) when it re-opens on Friday.”The advice for people who placed an order after July 12 is:

“Carpetright stopped taking payment for orders until the day of fitting on the 12th July. Any outstanding orders will not be processed. You can place your new order with Tapi or with the new Carpetright company (locations above) when it re-opens on Friday.”

Further answers to FAQs can be found at www.tapi.co.uk/help/carpetright-update.