Home improvement brand with 34 John Lewis concessions falls into administration closing all sites with immediate effect

A MAJOR home improvement brand trading out of John Lewis stores has collapsed into administration impacting hundreds of customers.

The Floor Room, which sold carpets, laminate and other types of flooring has closed all 34 of its concessions.

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It is understood hundreds of customers are impacted with 196 members of staff also losing their jobs.

The Floor Room is a sister company of Carpetright, which filed for administration just last month.

Adam Seres, joint administrator at PwC UK, which has been brought in to oversee the administration of The Floor Room, said: "The Floor Room depended on its sister company, Carpetright, for much of its trading infrastructure.

"Following the latter’s insolvency, management worked to find an alternative solution to preserve the Floor Room’s business as a going concern.

"However, its financial position meant that it was impossible for the business to continue trading."

PwC said some The Floor Room staff will keep their jobs for now, as the company winds down its operations.

However, 196 head office, customer service and in-home service staff, have been made redundant.

These impacted workers will receive their legal redundancy entitlements "as soon as possible", PwC said.

However, the administrator also said any outstanding customer orders will not be fulfilled.

Any impacted customers are urged to contact their payment card provider about receiving a refund.

John Lewis said although it did not own The Floor Room, it was was urgently working to see what its winding down meant for customers and staff.

A statement from the retailer added: "If anyone has an outstanding order with The Floor Room, we are committed to doing everything in our power to help and support them."

It comes after Carpetright filed for administration in July, as administrators PwC sought a "period of protection" to secure additional investment.

Later that month, Flooring retailer Tapi was understood to have struck a multimillion-pound rescue deal to save the brand and dozens of stores.

However, the pre-pack administration deal still left 200 stores and 1,000 jobs in peril.

It was believed the executives at the retailer were reluctant to approach Tapi about a deal over fears it could gain access to sensitive trading information.

It came after Carpetright's owner, Meditor, a British hedge fund, ruled out buying back the business or investing any more money.

Carpetright, which is one of the country's biggest floor-covering retailers, said it filed for administration following "financial pressures" after a software attack that disrupted trade in April.

The retailer was then put on the market.

The retailer, founded by Lord Harris of Peckham in 1988, was taken off the stock market in 2019 by its biggest investor, Meditor.

However, the Harris family became one of Carpetright’s biggest challenges as son Martin Harris launched a rival flooring retailer, Tapi, which increased competition.

The 1988-founded icon British chain brought in restructuring experts Teneo earlier this year to examine cost-cutting measures.

A lack of consumer spending in recent years and a rise in competition are thought to have caused problems for the brand.