Hundreds of Yorkshire workers have lost their jobs as leading window company Safestyle UK has collapsed into administration – with customers who have paid cash deposits to the firm set to lose their money and those midway through installation projects told to find other companies to complete them.
It was announced on Monday afternoon that the Bradford-headquartered firm, which also operates a large manufacturing factory in Wombwell, near Barnsley, has been placed into administration with the company expected to be wound down.
The company had employed around 750 workers and all but 70 of them have been made redundant. The remaining staff are only staying on a short-term basis “to assist with an orderly wind-down of the business”.
The firm had operated 42 sales branches and installation depots across the UK.
The collapse of the company follows it reporting a £6m loss before taxation for the first half of 2023. Revenues for the six-month period had been £74.1m, down from £78.3m in the same period in 2022, when a £1.4m loss was recorded.
Rick Harrison, managing director at administrator Interpath Advisory, said: “These are really challenging times for companies across the home improvement market. After seeing strong sales during the Covid-lockdown periods, many companies are seeing trading being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and soaring costs.
“Unfortunately for Safestyle, and despite the tireless efforts of the management team over recent months, these challenges have proven too difficult to overcome. This will be particularly devastating for the company’s employees, as well as the many self-employed contractors who worked on behalf of the company.
"Our immediate priority will be to provide support to those impacted by redundancy, including supporting them in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service where relevant.”
Interpath said customer orders will not be fulfilled while the company is in administration.
Customers who have booked installations but not paid deposits have been told the jobs are cancelled while those who are mid-way through having windows and doors installed by the company have been told to find alternative workers to complete their jobs.
The administrators said: “Customers who are mid-way through the installation process are advised that, regrettably, the company in administration is unable to complete the installation, and as such, they will need to seek alternative installers. In this circumstance, customers will not be charged by the company in administration for the remaining balance owed.”
