UK furniture chain collapses into administration – 297 workers made redundant

Nearly 300 employees have been made redundant at a Welsh furniture company following its collapse into administration. Westbridge had been a well-regarded furniture designer and manufacturer, supplying sofas and other upholstered products to a number of high street and premium independent retailers. The firm employed just under 300 people at its site in Holywell, Flintshire. In March, Chris Pole and Will Wright from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to Westbridge Furniture Limited and Belfield Leisure Limited, based in Derbyshire. They had kept both businesses operational while assessing market interest in acquiring them and safeguarding the jobs and sites. However, the joint administrators issued an update on Westbridge earlier this week, confirming that 297 members of staff had been let go, reports Wales Online . They stated: "Chris Pole and Will Wright from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to the company on March 23, 2026, following operational disruption, weak trading and the loss of a key customer. "Since their last update the joint administrators had maintained operations at Westbridge Furniture, while they completed outstanding work in progress and assessed interest in the business. "Without any viable offers for the business, production ceased on April 2 and the business progressed with a wind-up process. It is with regret that the majority of the business' 297 remaining staff have since been made redundant. "The administrators will continue to provide support to those impacted, including supporting them with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service. A small number of staff have been retained to assist the joint administrators in their duties." Chris Pole, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator of Westbridge Furniture Limited, said: "The team at Westbridge has shown exceptional professionalism in maintaining production while we explored options. "Regrettably, as no viable offers for the business were received, it was no longer possible to continue trading and we have had to take the difficult decision to close the business. We recognise this has been a challenging period for staff and I'd like to express my sincere thanks for their commitment." The joint administrators have since reached an agreement on the sale of exclusive intellectual property and design rights to the entire Westbridge independent product catalogue to sofa and upholstery manufacturer Whitemeadow. The new owner plans to engage with stockists of Westbridge products to maintain continuity wherever possible. Chris Pole said: "The agreement to sell the IP and design rights to Whitemeadow preserves Westbridge's range for retailers. We wish the Whitemeadow team all the best as it embarks on a development programme to reintroduce those designs to the market." The joint administrators are pressing ahead with running and evaluating options for Belfield Leisure Limited, which also forms part of The Belfield Group. The Mirror has contacted Westbridge for comment.