Bespoke timber conservatory manufacturer Amdega has gone into administration after hitting trading difficulties.
Almost all the 197 staff who work at Darlington-based Amdega have now been laid off by administrators KPMG, who have told TTJ that £3.3m is owed to suppliers and sub-contractors.
The company was only taken over in August of last year by private equity group and turnaround specialist Endless and new capital injected.
Endless said at the time that its investment would be used to provide additional working capital.??
Following the news of the administration an Endless spokesperson said the outcome was “extremely disappointing”.
“At the time of investing, we knew that a turnaround of Amdega was going to be difficult,” said the spokesperson.
But new funding and a fresh management team had failed to turn the company around.
“Due to the significant legacy issues we inherited, together with extremely difficult trading conditions, sadly, on this occasion, a rescue of the company has not been possible.”
Joint administrator Mark Firmin said the operation was closed because a sale of the business was unlikely.
“Amdega is a victim of the severe downturn in the big-ticket and home-related parts of the retail sector and was unable to sustain the ongoing weakness in demand it was experiencing,”?he said.
“KPMG’s latest Retail Sales Monitor highlighted that these businesses are being hit hardest by consumers’ lower spending patterns and Amdega was unable to sustain the ongoing weakness in demand it was experiencing.”
The firm has 300 orders on its books currently, worth £3m in total.
In addition to timber conservatories Amdega, founded in 1874, also made orangeries, summerhouses and gazebos.
