Floors-2-Go closes in Kidderminster

10:18am Tuesday 19th August 2008

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FLOORING chain Floors-2-Go’s Kidderminster store has closed down, causing two redundancies.

The store ceased trading last Friday after the company was bought out from administration but 11 branches were left over in the deal, one of which was Kidderminster.

The chain, the UK’s largest wood and laminate flooring retailer, has been bought by the original founders of the business, brothers Robert and Richard Hodges.

The company went into administration last month, blaming a downturn in sales as a result of the depressed housing market and a subsequent fall in spending on home improvement.

The Kidderminster store, in Worcester Road, was originally declared safe from closure but 41 of the 132 stores nationwide closed and 97 of the company’s 450 staff were laid off.

The Hodges’s acquisition accounts for 80 of the 91 stores left and the closure of the remaining 11 branches has resulted in 25 redundancies.

Robert and Richard Hodges are part of the family that formed the Birmingham-based firm in 1999 and made millions when it was floated on the stock market in 2004.

The new company replacing Floors-2-Go is called Floor My Home, set up and controlled by the brothers.

Fraser Gray, of adminstrators, Kroll, said: "In what has been a turbulent period for retailers, this sale represents the best possible outcome for creditors and is a tremendous result for the business, its staff, customers and suppliers. The purchasers have a history in the retail flooring sector and a passion for this business.”