Retailer has announced it is one of 92 branches to be shut in restructuring

The Carpetright branch on Upper Richmond Road

The Putney branch of Carpetright is on a list of 92 outlets that the company has announced will be closed.

The flooring retailers is shutting its shop on the Upper Richmond Road as part of a restructuring exercise. The firm is entering into a company voluntary agreement (CVA) which will allow it to renegotiate the terms of its leases and bank loans. The current management are blaming over-expansion by their predecessors for the move becoming necessary.

The closures represent about a quarter of the chain’s stores and around 300 jobs are set to be lost.

The downturn in the company’s fortunes is also believed to be related to fewer house moves as a result of the uncertain property market which has reduced the demand for new flooring.

Carpetright issued a profit warning at the beginning of March and said it planned to raise money through a new share issue once the CVA was in place.

Wilf Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of Carpetright, said, “The aggressive store opening strategy pursued by the Company’s previous leadership has left Carpetright burdened with an oversized property estate consisting of too many poorly located stores on rents which are simply unsustainable. The Company has worked hard over recent years to address this legacy issue and reduce the size of its property estate, however many of these poor performing stores still have long leases to run, which has limited our ability to exit a meaningful number in the short-to-medium term.”

April 12, 2018