Yorkshire's Victoria Plum to close with loss of 100 jobs feared after rival takeover

In May, the latter company announced a £22.5m deal to take over Victoria Plum from AHK Designs which itself had only been involved with the business for a few months.

The company had previously been owned by private equity firm Endless but AHK Designs spent £7.8m purchasing Victoria Plum in a pre-pack deal after the firm went into administration in late September.

In May following the takeover, Victorian Plumbing said it would “continue to trade the business as normal initially, pending the finalisation of our integration plan”.

Victorian Plumbing has now announced it intends to close the Yorkshire business.

A spokesperson said: “Following the acquisition of AHK Designs Ltd, we are proposing a closure plan for VictoriaPlum.com.

"As a result we have entered into a consultation period with a number of VictoriaPlum.com colleagues and only when the period completes can we provide an update.

"We are committed to keeping all employees, suppliers and connected parties up to date as we progress with the consultation.

"This proposal does not impact Victorian Plumbing Ltd.”

Mark Radcliffe, CEO of Victorian Plumbing, had said in May: "I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Victoria Plum, a well-established brand with a solid base of customers, suppliers and product ranges.

"The acquisition aligns with our ambitions to accelerate our growth. We are pleased to welcome the existing Victoria Plum team to our group and look forward to continuing to provide customers with a fantastic range of bathroom products and accessories.

"This acquisition represents another exciting strategic milestone for the company and, together with the investment in our new distribution centre, provides a unique opportunity to deliver increased shareholder return."

For the six months ended March 31 2024, unaudited management accounts indicate that Victoria Plum had book value gross assets of £15.8m and losses of £3.3m.

Earlier this month, the administration process for Victoria Plum was extended until September 2025.

In April, a progress report on the administration process for Victoria Plum stated that non-preferential creditors collectively owed £19.2m from trade and deals preceding the AHK Designs takeover were unlikely to get any return.

It also said there is a likely to be “shortfall” in paying around £3.2m owed to HM Revenue and Customs.

Administrators said the company had faced “challenging market conditions” prior to entering administration, caused by a combination of reducing demand and inflationary pressures.

It said a subsequent “system error” affected its marketing strategy and hit revenues.