Receivership carpet factories up for sale

Troubled textiles firm Carpets International UK is putting all seven of its operations up for sale.

The UK-based company, which went into receivership on Wednesday, employs around 1200 people across the UK.

It has two factories in Northern Ireland, employing 433 people between them, and a factory in Blackwood, south Wales where 320 jobs are at risk.

Garth Calow, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers business recovery service in Belfast, confirmed today potential buyers had already asked about the company’s two factories in Killinchy and Donaghadee, Co Down in Northern Ireland.

Mr Calow, who was appointed as a joint administrative receiver in Northern Ireland, confirmed: “We will be advertising the Carpets International business for sale – collectively or as individual plants – at the beginning of next week and are hopeful of generating interest in some or all of the manufacturing operations,” he said.

“We have had preliminary approaches from several interested parties, but have yet to establish where these might lead.

“Although there are orders for the next four weeks, we are trying to determine how profitable these orders will be and if there is sufficient raw material to complete them.

“We met with staff and trade union representatives and are not announcing any redundancies today, in either Killinchy or Donaghadee. The staffing position will be reviewed again early next week, depending on the immediate availability of raw material.”

Carpets International (UK) Ltd’s Donaghadee factory employs 289 people and makes carpets.

The Killinchy operation is a spinning plant with 144 workers.

The company is the country’s largest carpet manufacturer and trades under the Kossett, Wilton Royal and Abington brands.