Next snaps up collapsed Made.com in £3.4m swoop
NEXT snapped up the brand, domain names and intellectual property of Made.com for £3.4m in a prepack administration this morning, just 18 months after it made its £775m London debut.
In a statement this morning, Made.com confirmed it had appointed administrators PwC to sell off its other assets and pay off its debts.
Former chief exec Nicola Thompson, who took over the top spot this year, apologised to those impacted by the company going into administration, stating that the firm had “fought tooth and nail” to avoid this outcome.
She said the world of stable demand for goods and reliable supply chains had “vanished” and “we could not pivot fast enough”.
PwC said there will be 399 job losses, with around 300 redundancies made this morning from its 573 headcount.
Although around 12,000 UK orders are outstanding, customers will not be able to get a refund from the company directly, but will need to try their bank provider.
The business only made its debut on the London Stock Exchange in June last year, hoping to continue the home improvement boom it had seen during the pandemic.
However, this proved to be short-lived, with the firm reporting a series of disappointing results in the past year.
Made posted a loss before tax of £35.3m for the six months to 30 June, versus £10.1m a year prior, with consumers turning away from big-ticket items as the cost of living bites.
“Speculation is rife as to why a recently successful business has plunged so rapidly,” said restructuring and insolvency Partner at law firm Fladgate Jeremy Whiteson.
He warned that Made’s destiny was likely to be a recurring theme for consumer-orientated businesses as the economy continues to face a squeeze.