Carpetright: More than 1,800 jobs at risk as retailer set for administration

The carpet and flooring retailer has filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators.

It has two stores in Northern Ireland at south Belfast’s Boucher Road and in Abbey Retail Park, Newtownabbey.

It is understood that experts from PwC are set to be appointed as part of the process, who will seek to find emergency funding or a rescue buyer for the troubled business.

Once a notice of intent to appoint administrators is filed, it gives companies around 10 days in which it can attempt to avoid insolvency.

The company, which employs 1,852 people, operates 272 stores across the UK which are continuing to trade as normal.

Carpetright, which is owned by Nestware Holdings, has suffered from weaker demand for carpets as homeowners shifted towards hard flooring as well as a major cyberattack in April which halted trading.

It said the software attack’s impact of sales affected efforts by the company to restructure its operations in recent months.

Kevin Barrett, chief executive officer of Nestware Holdings, said: “We remain focussed on securing external investment to ensure as few customers and colleagues are impacted as possible.

“They are our main priority and we are taking all appropriate action to make sure they are informed and supported through this process.

“We have begun promising conversations with interested parties that are moving in the right direction, encouraging us that Carpetright has a viable future.”