Flooring Superstore, the 50-strong chain backed by Sir Richard Harpin’s Growth Partner, has appointed restructuring advisers, raising the prospect of store closures and redundancies.
The retailer employs around 300 people from its Bishop Auckland headquarters in County Durham. It has drafted in Begbies Traynor and Santander’s restructuring arm to weigh its options. A company voluntary arrangement (CVA) or full administration are both under consideration.
Flooring Superstore was co-founded in 2012 by Dan Foskett and sells vinyl, laminate and wood flooring alongside artificial grass through its showrooms and online channels. Growth Partner backed the business in 2020 with a £5 million injection. Foskett retains a 22% stake while Growth Partner holds 25%. The remainder is split between three individual investors.
Harpin, who last year published “How to Make a Billion in Nine Steps,” focuses on British and European retail names primed for scale. His portfolio includes pizza oven specialist Gozney and bathroom retailer Easy Bathrooms. However, several Growth Partner-backed businesses have collapsed in recent years, including Crafters’ Companion and Yorkshire-based Keelham Farm Shop.
Flooring Superstore was a pandemic winner, riding the wave of home-improvement spending while consumers were confined to their homes. That tailwind reversed once lockdowns eased, as the chain was forced to absorb spiraling energy and raw material costs. The cost-of-living crisis has since hammered demand for big-ticket household refurbishments.
Connection Retail, the parent company that also owns Direct Wood Flooring, Grass Direct and Snug Carpets, posted turnover of £49.3 million in the year to July 2024, down from £51.8 million a year earlier. Pre-tax profit swung from a £3.3 million loss to a £619,000 profit, while net debt stood at £3.5 million at year-end.
Santander shored up the group’s balance sheet last June with a debenture. Filings show Connection Retail has two outstanding charges, having pledged its property and business assets as collateral to both Growth Partner and the bank.
The restructuring talks mark a striking pivot from the expansion blueprint Foskett set out only twelve months ago, when he intended to grow the estate to as many as 150 stores.
Growth Partner and Flooring Superstore had not responded to requests for comment. Santander and Begbies Traynor declined to comment.