Office fit-out and interiors specialist falls into administration
Tue, 16 Jul 2024 | ADMINISTRATION
A Cardiff-headquartered office fit-out and interiors specialist has fallen into administration and ceased trading. Paramount D&B was established more than 30 years ago and, in addition to its core services, provided construction services for new building developments as well as the supply of office furniture.
Paramount D&B had an office in Bristol in addition to its Cardiff base and employed 57 staff as of 2022. It operated primarily across Wales and the South West, but regularly undertook projects across the UK and sometimes internationally.
The company, which was called Paramount Office Interiors prior to 2023, was acquired by CEO Richard Jones in a management buyout (MBO) in 2018. In 2021, Jones introduced an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), which enabled the company’s employees to become majority shareholders, collectively owning 51 per cent of the company for £2 million.
In its most recent accounts at Companies House, for the year ending June 30 2022, the company reported turnover of just under £29.5 million, up from £21.4 million a year earlier, while nearly doubling its post-tax profits from £549,408 to £1.07 million.
The firm launched its Bristol office in 2022, saying at the time that it was aiming to grow revenues to £50 million by 2025. However, it had reportedly encountered cashflow difficulties in the wake of expanding outside of its core market to take on contracting work for developers engaged in repurposing old office buildings for social housing.
As a result, directors undertook efforts to sell the business as a going concern and explored the possibility of a pre-pack sale. However, these efforts ultimately failed, leading to the voluntary appointment of Susan Clay and Huw Powell of Begbies Traynor as joint administrators.
Upon the appointment of the joint administrators, the company confirmed in a notice on its website that it had ceased trading. A handful of staff have reportedly been retained for a short period to assist in the administration process.
In the firm’s most recent accounts, its fixed assets were valued at just short of £758,000 and current assets at £8.2 million, with total equity amounting to £2.3 million.
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