Lee Longlands enters administration as Birmingham furniture retailer restructures

Both companies appear on administrator.uk's list of appointments for the week, dated 6 November. The site is an independent service that compiles public filings, and it does not name the administrators. On 11 November the appointment was not yet showing on the Companies House register, where Lee Longland & Co. is recorded at 224 Broad Street, Birmingham.

The administration comes after the retailer filed notices of intention to appoint administrators and set out a turnaround plan. Under that plan, reported by Big Furniture Group, trading would carry on through a holding company, Lee Longland Holdings Limited, while the business dealt with pressure from creditors and on working capital. Whether the business has moved across, and on what terms, has not been disclosed.

The store on Crossley Retail Park in Kidderminster is closing. Managing director Robert Lee told Big Furniture Group it is the only branch the company is giving up, that a closing-down sale run by Greenwood will go on in the weeks before Christmas, and that the last day depends on how quickly stock sells. Staff and customers had been told, he said, and the company would focus on its six other stores and online sales.

On 11 November the Lee Longlands website was still taking orders and promoting Black Friday deals, with no notice about the administration. Customers waiting for furniture or carpets, including those who paid deposits, have not been told publicly whether their orders will arrive or which company now owes them. The number of jobs affected has not been disclosed.