The Barton-based firm says it is looking at recruiting a number of staff from Moores
Wren Kitchens’s headquarters, the Nest, in Barton-upon-Humber(Image: David Haber / Scunthorpe Live)
Customers of failed kitchen maker Moores Furniture Group have had their orders saved by Wren Kitchens. The Barton-based manufacturing and retail giant has acquired the customer list and some intellectual property of Wetherby-based Moores, which collapsed into administration on Monday amid a downturn in housebuilding.
Wren says it will take on existing contracts of its rival having been in talks to try to rescue the business. It says Moores customers will not face an change to price and delivery schedules.
In a statement, Wren said: “Whilst the company was a competitor of ours, we believe it is in everyone’s interests to have a strong kitchen industry based here in the UK.
“Wren’s Contracts division had been in talks with Moores and the administrators but unfortunately was unable to save the business. We have however agreed an exclusive option to provide customers affected by this situation with the ability to seamlessly transfer outstanding contracts over to us. This will ensure those customers will be able to continue their operations with absolutely no impact on price, delivery schedules or administration costs.
“Due to the unique way Wren manufacture, we will also be able to assist customers by supplying cabinets and doors in the bespoke sizes which Moores had been supplying to the market, we envisage this will help housebuilders and public sector landlords with any warranty issues they or their customers may have been having or may need to resolve in the future.
“Wren’s Contract division had recently committed to a sales office in Harrogate, and we have agreed with the administrator that we will engage immediately with Moores management team to see if there are opportunities to provide alternative employment to a significant number of Moores sales, operations and internal support teams.”
Administrators continue to run Moores’ Wetherby facility, keeping 336 staff on in a bid to limit disruption in the supply chain. However, Interpath has confirmed 124 redundancies at the group.
Moores, which was founded nearly 80 years ago, is said to have suffered challenging trading conditions in recent months, exacerbated by rising costs and low levels of housebuilding. Its directors have sought investment or a buyer but those bids failed, leading to insolvency experts at Interpath being appointed earlier this week. Most recently available accounts for Moores, covering 2024, show the group made a pre-tax loss of £9.1m on turnover of £58.1m.
James Clark, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “The strong headwinds facing the UK construction industry continue to have an impact on companies up and down the supply chain.
“Against this backdrop, we are pleased to have been able to secure a transaction which provides an opportunity to minimise disruption for customers and suppliers, and which will enable Moores’ heritage in kitchen manufacturing to continue as part of the Wren family.”