Triumph Furniture Enters Administration

A well-known South Wales office furniture manufacturer has fallen into administration and ceased to trade, with the immediate loss of 239 jobs.

Triumph Furniture Limited, one of the UK’s leading office furniture manufacturers, with bases in Merthyr Tydfil and Dowlais, entered into administration on 8 October after being unable to reduce its operating costs following an unprecedented fall in sales in the course of the last 10 weeks.

Huw Powell, Katrina Orum and Paul Wood of business recovery firm, Begbies Traynor, have been appointed as joint administrators to manage the company’s affairs. Thirteen of the company’s employees are being retained in the short term to assist the administrators with their duties.

Established in 1946, the family-run business went on to supply a network of over 600 office furniture resellers and is a key supplier into central government. Triumph has been a major employer in Merthyr Tydfil, supporting some 252 jobs across its two sites.

Andrew Jackson, CEO of Triumph Furniture, comments:

“The family is devastated by this appalling outcome and are extremely concerned for the welfare of all Triumph employees and their families at this terrible time. The business has suffered a rapid and catastrophic collapse in orders since the middle of July, which has been impossible to recover from, despite every effort. Triumph has enjoyed incredible loyalty and support from the committed people of Merthyr and the surrounding valleys, which has been a key element of our success and longevity. All connected with the business over these years should be very proud of what has been achieved.”

Commenting on the news, Huw Powell, partner at Begbies Traynor in Cardiff, said:

 “It is especially sad to see such a prominent business fail when there are so many redundancies involved. We know this will be devastating news for those concerned.

“Attempts were made to secure major customer backing and additional funding to support a restructure or to sell the business as a going concern but due to the speed at which order levels reduced, these efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful before funding ran out. We are now working with all staff affected to help them access support from Careers Wales via the Welsh Government’s ReAct programme.”