Former Bognor Regis firm's name lives on

Eurotek Office Furniture’s title and the rights to its designs have been bought by a rival firm.

The decision by Norfolk-based Lee and Plumpton means it legally owns the intellectual property.

But the family-run firm has no intention of re-opening Eurotek’s factory on the Southern Cross industrial estate.

It closed in February at the cost of 130 jobs when the administrators were called in after the company ran into financial trouble failed to find a buyer.

Lee and Plumpton sales and marketing director Brendan Pope said: “We have no plans to manufacture Eurotek’s products at the moment.

“But buying the rights gives us the opportunity to open some new doors in the marketplace if we want to.

“There was no opportunity for us to buy Eurotek as a going concern. We were very surprised by the company’s demise.

“It was very well known in our market and was established, having traded for over 20 years, and was well respected. That’s why we bought the name.”

Eurotek’s failure showed the difficulty of keeping manufacturing alive in the UK, said Mr Pope.

The company’s loss was regretted by Lee and Plumpton even though the two were competitors.

Lee and Plumpton has more than 130 full-time equivalent workers making its furniture at a 200,000sq ft factory near Norwich.