Misco UK has entered administration after turnaround efforts at the business failed to deliver against a background of tough market conditions.
Attempts to breathe new life into Misco UK, who’s headquarters are based in Darby Close on Wellingborough’s Park Farm Industrial Estate, have failed with the firm going into administration with most of the firm’s 330 jobs being lost.
Only 30 jobs will be kept to help man the Wellingborough headquarters and the computer company’s warehouse in Greenock, Scotland.
Over the past seven months the firm had been attempting to turnaround its fortunes under the leadership of a management team headed up by CEO Alan Cantwell and with the backing of restructuring specialist Hilco Capital.
During that period the firm closed its sales office in Watford making bidding farewell to some staff but had also invested in a NetSuite ERP system to try and gain sales efficiences across the organisation.
The last time Cantwell spoke to MicroScope a couple of weeks ago he talked of the pain and the challenges that had been a feature of the first six months but was more optimistic about the future.
Geoff Rowley, Tom MacLennan and John Lowe, partners at FRP Advisory, the business advisory firm, have been appointed as joint administrators to Misco UK this morning.
In a statement the administrators said that despite the best efforts to turn the company around a tightening of credit insurance and competition from other online players had been too much.
“Misco UK had made great progress since the change of ownership and new investment in March this year but the company’s turnaround plans could not deal sufficiently with the rapidly deterioration in cash-flow after the sudden tightening of credit insurance terms,” said Rowley.
“The UK business had moved to a system of supply chain outsourcing of stock, with increasing levels of automation to enable greater efficiencies with suppliers and distributions and overall lower cost, however these efforts came at a time of heightened competition from other globalised online retailers which have eaten heavily into the margins of even established IT resellers like Misco,” he added.
“Our immediate priority as administrators is to work closely with all agencies and services to ensure employees receive every support and assistance at this time. We shall be assisting those staff who have lost their jobs with their timely applications to the Redundancy Payments Service,” Rowley concluded.
There had been sales talks under way over the last few days to sell off Misco and although came to a point where no deal had been made there is a possibility that the business could find new ownership and the administrators will be attempting to follow that course of action if possible.
Misco Europe, which has operations in Italy, Spain Netherlands and Sweden, continues to trade.