Savile Town firm makes 86 redundancies

Mike Savage and Martin Chalcraft from TC Bathroom which has been nominated for a Reporter series business award.

Traditional Contemporary Bathrooms Limited let 86 of its 187 staff go this week.

Fifty-three of the jobs lost were at the company’s headquarters in Savile Town, where 81 staff have been kept on.

The other redundancies came from its network of showrooms, with eight of its 17 stores closed.

The business, a distributor and retailer of bathroom equipment and furnishings, called in administrators Ernst and Young yesterday.

Joint administrator Hunter Kelly said: “The company’s trading performance has been impacted by the economic downturn and the contraction of the new housing and refurbishment markets.

“In addition, whilst the business remains profitable, it has been unable to service the debt taken on to fund its recent considerable expansion.”

The company, which had a turnover of £26m last year, invested £11m in new purpose built warehouses and offices in the Bretton Park Industrial Estate in 2008. It had also opened new stores in the last two years.

Mr Kelly said the business would continue to trade while a buyer was sought.

He said: “We have received some expressions of interest in various parts of the business from a number of parties, which will be explored further over the next few days.”

The company, founded in 2000, started out in retail and branched out into trade distribution three years later.

Its showrooms in Ossett and Huddersfield will continue to trade as bathrooms4all.

Customers with product order queries should email [email protected] or phone 0113 298 2317.