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| Made heads towards administration as shares suspended | |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Online furniture retailer Made.com has moved a step closer towards administration after the company's shares were suspended on Tuesday. | Online furniture retailer Made.com has moved a step closer towards administration after the company's shares were suspended on Tuesday. |
| The firm announced last week that rescue talks to find a buyer for the business had so far failed. | The firm announced last week that rescue talks to find a buyer for the business had so far failed. |
| It has stopped taking new orders and bosses have warned cash reserves could run out if further funding cannot be raised. | |
| Made.com, which was launched in 2011, employed 700 staff at the end 2021. | |
| During the pandemic, the firm's sales surged as lockdown consumers bought more furniture and other homeware online. | |
| But the company has lately hit problems, as households cut back on big-ticket items due to the rising cost of living and global supply chain issues have left customers waiting months for deliveries. | |
| On Tuesday, Made.com announced that trading in its shares had been suspended. It also said it intended to appoint administrators which means the firm is not in administration but heading towards it. | |
| The move gives the company 10 days breathing space to find new backers or protection from its creditors, a company source told the BBC. | |
| They added that the retailer's board was still "exploring every option available", which could mean a sale of all or part of the business. | |
| "They are hopeful they can make some progress," the source said. | |
| Sales at Made hit £315m in 2020, a year-on-year rise of 30%. They then grew by 63% in the first three months of 2021 to £110m. | |
| That growth led to the firm being listed on the London Stock Exchange in June last year with a value of £775m. | |
| The business was co-founded by Ning Li and Brent Hoberman, best-known for starting Lastminute.com, as well as Chloe Macintosh and Julien Callède. | |
| Ning Li came up with the idea of sourcing directly from designers and manufacturers and selling their furniture on the Made.com website, targeting a computer-savvy audience. |