'Rent to Own' Chain BrightHouse Goes into Administration
North End Road branch shut but clients should 'continue to make payments in usual way'
Following the closure of the North End Road branch of Boots at the end of March, the shopping street has suffered another blow with 'rent to own' store BrightHouse collapsing into administration.
BrightHouse was the country's largest weekly payment retailer, selling home furniture, appliances, and computing.
The Fulham store was next to Boots at 320 North End Road, and its permanent closure leaves a large swathe of the road now empty.
BrightHouse’s stores were also already shut under the government’s coronavirus control measures but administrators said the business would continue delivering smaller items to homes and, where possible, would continue servicing items already in people’s homes.
Chris Laverty, Andrew Charters and Sarah O’Toole of Grant Thornton, who were appointed as joint administrators on Monday, said BrightHouse would not be making new rent-to-own or cash loan deals, but said existing clients should continue to make payments in the usual way.
This week also saw Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s go into administration, including nearby restaurants in South Kensington and Putney. A branch on Fulham Road opposite Chelsea and Westminster Hospital closed down in September 2018 and has since been replaced by a branch of brasserie chain Cote.
4,400 jobs are now at risk.
Geoff Rowley, of FRP Advisory, who was appointed administrator of Carluccio’s on Monday, said he was hoping to mothball the business under the government scheme which would provide 80% of wages to its 2,000 employees.”
The chain’s 73 branches are already closed as a result of the government’s lockdown on all restaurants, cafes, pubs and non-essential retail, but Rowley said he hoped to find a buyer for all or parts of the business.
Rowley said: "We are operating in unprecedented times and the issues currently facing the hospitality sector following the onset of Covid-19 are well documented.
"In the absence of being able to continue to trade Carluccio’s, in the short term, we are urgently focused on the options available to preserve the future of the business and protect its employees."
April 3, 2020