The UK’s largest distributor of ornamental surfaces has been put up on the market after it collapsed into administration. 

Worldwide Ornamental Surfaces (IDS) has made a few of its 393 workers redundant after it didn’t safe additional funding because of a major slowdown within the property and development industries. 

It was one among Europe’s largest distributors of ornamental floor supplies, with a stockholding of over 6,000 merchandise. The group was carved out from French multinational Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Saint-Gobain) after a administration buyout deal was accomplished in 2022. 

Non-public fairness investor Chiltern Capital had backed the group which had additionally secured a multi-million asset-based lending facility from Safe Belief Financial institution Business Finance.

Directors at FRP Advisory have put the enterprise and its belongings on the market, which embody half 1,000,000 sq ft of warehousing, supporting greater than 50,000 month-to-month transactions, and an 85-vehicle fleet enabling nationwide supply inside 24-48 hours.

IDS employed 393 workers at its 12 places throughout its Newcastle-under-Lyme headquarters and websites in Nuneaton, Leeds, Warrington, Exeter, Fife, Gateshead, London, Ely, Norwich and Swindon. 11 websites are at present nonetheless operational. 

Headed up by CEO Andy Sutton, CFO Kevin Riddle and COO Paul Burns, IDS stated final yr it had reworked by way of funding into its operational techniques, product traces, and other people.

Riddle has since left the agency, alongside managing director John Bagshaw, who had led the enterprise since its formation from the merger of L Bloom and Meyer Laminates in 1999. Tony Buffin was launched as chair, who had beforehand held roles on the boards of Travis Perkins and Kingfisher and is at present the chair of HIG-backed Highbourne Group.

525 workers had been employed by in its final accounts filed at Corporations Home and it had reported revenues of greater than £78.7m.

Alastair Massey and Tony Wright of specialist enterprise advisory agency FRP Advisory had been appointed as joint directors of IDS.

Alastair Massey, Companion at FRP and Joint Administrator stated: “Whereas IDS has confronted important challenges in current months, it stays a enterprise with appreciable strengths and capabilities. 

“We’re now centered on exploring all choices to safe a future for the enterprise, together with advertising it on the market and we’d encourage any events inquisitive about buying the enterprise to make contact with us as quickly as doable.”