Loss of supplier saw unrecoverable drop in turnover

Independent bathroom and kitchen distributor Cooper Callas has been placed into administration on June 2, 2016.

Mark Boughey and Matthew Haw of RSM Restructuring Advisory have been appointed joint administrators, and following this 41 of the company’s 68-strong workforce have been made redundant.

Partner of RSM and a joint administrator Mark Boughey commented: “Earlier this year Cooper Callas suffered the loss of a key supplier that accounted for around 25 per cent of its turnover. Despite the efforts of the directors and other key stakeholders, it was not possible to secure the necessary additional funding and investment that was required to meet the resulting trade losses and shortfalls in working capital.

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“Regrettably, a number of redundancies have been necessary, and we are working closely with the managing director and the remaining workforce to oversee an orderly wind-down of the business.”

Managing director of Cooper Callas Philip Carr added: “The significant loss in sales was too great a gap to bridge in the limited time available, with every effort being made to secure the future of the company and its workforce. During 2015 the company returned to profitability after several years of losses, underlining the hard work and dedication of all members of staff.” Established in 1875, Oxfordshire-based Cooper Callas supplied a range of 27,000 kitchen and bathroom products to around 1,200 independent retailers across Europe.