Tapi Carpets and Floors Limited has announced that it will be rescuing the Carpetright brand and 54 stores from administration. However, that does mean that 100s of Carpetright stores will be closing and 1,018 staff members will be made redundant.
It came to light over a week ago that Carpertright would be going into administration. Founded in 1988, the flooring company had 273 stores and 1,898 employees and was a classic go-to for carpets, rugs and even artificial lawns. However, fellow carpet and flooring company Tapi has stepped in to rescue 54 of the stores from closure.
'Our goal, initially, was to try to save all of Carpetright. However, as we looked into the details of the situation, we quickly established that saving the entire business was unviable. The business has been materially loss-making for a number of years and it has significant debt held by the owner,' said Jeevan Karir, Managing Director of Tapi Carpets & Floors Limited.
While it's a relief that the brand has been rescued, it's not exactly the news customers will have been hoping for. Tapi has made it clear in its press release that the 54 stores acquired from the Administrator are now part of a different company with different owners. This means that Tapi will temporarily close these 54 stores for a few days while they are set up with a new ordering system, telephone lines and email system.
For any customer with an outstanding order at one of the remaining stores Tapi has said: 'Rest assured, we will be in touch with you to progress your order or fitting when we re-open on Friday.'
Which carpetright stores will stay open?
The 54 stores that will stay open include:
Basildon, Edinburgh - Hermiston Gait, North Shields, Birmingham - Erdington, Epsom, Norwich - Sprowston, Bishopbriggs, Farnborough, Peterborough, Bristol - Longwell Green, Friern Barnet, Plymouth - Marsh Mills, Camborne, Haywards Heath, Southampton - Hedge End, Camden, Hemel Hempstead, Stockton - Carpetright, Carmarthen, Hereford, Swindon - Bridgemead, Cheadle, High Wycombe - Loudwater, Teddington, Chesterfield Holloway, Trowbridge, Chichester, Hove, Truro, Chippenham Ipswich - Anglia Park, Washington - Armstrong, Clapham Common, Lancaster, West Wickham, Coventry - Airport Retail Park, Leeds - Kirkstall, Weston-Super-Mare, Cramlington, Maidstone, Weymouth, Croydon, Mansfield, Whetstone, Dumbarton, New Malden, Wimbledon, Dumfries - Carpetright, Newbury, Woking, East Sheen, Newmarket and Yeovil.
Tapi has provided a full FAQ for customers on the Carpetright website for customers of these 54 stores.
What about customers of the other stores?
Tapi has said that any orders at the other 217 stores, placed with Carpertright after 12th July will not be processed as the company had stopped taking payment for orders.
However, if you placed your order before 12th July and it hasn't yet been fulfilled there are two options:
- Initiate a section 75 refund if you paid by credit card. Your card company has a legal responsibility to come to your rescue if you spend between £100 and £30,000 on a credit card and there is a problem
- Contact your finance provider if you paid by finance. Most of the Carpetright finance was arranged by Novuna whose contact is here.
For all customers any Carpetright gift vouchers and product guarantees will now also be null and void as a result of the administration.
Make sure you act now to claim your money back.
