A CHRISTCHURCH-based business has been placed into administration after years of difficult trading conditions.
Curtain and soft-furnishings company, Mostyns, who have their head office at Avon Works in Bridge Street, has been sold by administrators.
Joint administrators Julie Palmer and Simon Campbell, from business rescue group Begbies Traynor, have sold the business, which operates 35 stores throughout the UK as well as an online curtain and fabrics service, to WCDI Limited.
Mostyns, which has an annual turnover of £7million, has been trading since 1950 and employs 128 staff across its 35 retail outlets nationwide, as well as 59 employees at its head office and manufacturing operation in Christchurch.
The vast majority of jobs have been safeguarded.
Administrator, Julie Palmer, said: “Mostyns is a very well-known business with a good reputation not just as an excellent local employer in the Christchurch area but for its stores in high streets up and down the country.
“We are delighted that the business has been sold as a going concern, safeguarding the vast majority of jobs.”
She added: “Despite a solid underlying business and sales, difficult trading conditions together with the costs of dealing with certain historical problems including onerous property leases has resulted in the company being put into administration.”
Steve Lane of WCDI said: “Mostyns has an excellent reputation for quality products manufactured in Dorset. WCDI are delighted to have purchased such a well-known brand both locally and nationally in a deal that now enables investment into the business and a brighter future.”
