Newsroom

Landlords vow to protect savers as Allied Carpets calls in administrators

The BPF has responded to Allied Carpets calling in the administrators by saying landlords would fight to protect the interests of their shareholders and savers, many of whom have invested through pension and life funds.

In a statement, Allied said it “has today finalised the sale of 51 of its stores and its insurance inspections business following the appointment of administrators to the group.”

Ian Fletcher, commercial policy director for the British Property Federation, said:

"Many of Allied Carpets' landlords will essentially be pension funds and so it will be ordinary people who will suffer as the company sheds its liabilities, and then at least part of much the same company rises from the still warm embers. It always seems to be the prudent savers and staff who suffer in these circumstances and not the people who run these companies.

“Because of this I suspect landlords will play hardball to protect their pensioners and savers. In such circumstances the more open and communicative the Insolvency Practitioner is the better. There are procedures to follow as part of the Insolvency Service's rules, known as SIP 16. The BPF will launch a questionnaire next week that will enable both sides to collate all the data that's needed to make the process more transparent."

Contact Andrew Teacher on 07968 12 45 45 / ateacher@bpf.org.uk with urgent press queries or call the office on 020 7828 0111.

It is expected that a significant number of additional stores will also be acquired by the new business during the course of the next two weeks subject to a satisfactory outcome being reached in ongoing negotiations with the company’s existing landlords.

The sale of the stores follows the completion of a strategic review which was implemented by management in the early part of 2009.

The stores already sold include those on Great Western Retail Park in Glasgow, Colne Valley Retail Park, Watford, Willowbrook Retail Park, Loughborough, and The Tollgate Centre, Colchester.

It was bought by Sigma Capital in March and filed a notice of intention to appoint BDO Stoy Hayward as administrator on 23 June.

Allied Carpets was the UK’s second-largest flooring retailer with 218 stores across the country.

It subsequently filed a second notice of intention on 6 July, which expired on 17 July.

The sale of the stores will secure the future of the Allied Carpets retail brand and the inspections business and safeguard the jobs of a significant number of employees. It is expected that additional jobs will be secured as more stores transfer into the new retail business.

In Allied’s statement, Clive Hutchings (CEO) commented:

"I am pleased that we have secured the future of the Allied Carpets brand through this sale and have the working capital to provide continuity and security for our customers and a significant proportion of our staff.”

“Allied Carpets is a good business, and through this sale and the additional funding provided, both the retail and inspections businesses now have the opportunity to strengthen their respective market positions, build on the Allied brand and ensure an ongoing commitment to unrivalled customer service.”

For more information and all PR and media queries, please contact Andrew Teacher, Head of Media, on 020 7802 0113/ 07968 124545/ ateacher@bpf.org.uk