Administrators continue to seek a trade sale for Kesslers, part of the Hexcite Group created by Elaghmore in 2019. The retail POP specialist, founded in 1888, went into administration on 17 December and is currently operating with a skeleton staff to fulfil outstanding orders. The rest of the Hexcite companies - Gardners, Blaze Signs and Cygnia Maintenance - are said to be unaffected.
Michael Lennon and Philip Dakin, both of Kroll, have been appointed joint administrators of the Stratford, East London based Kesslers business, which provides bespoke POS retail solutions, including design, technical engineering, manufacturing, installation, and post-campaign customer service. Its customers include a number of UK and international retailers.
Lennon, stated: “Attempts to diversify and grow the business through an outsourced supply model were not delivered successfully and it has not been possible to return the company to profitability.
“The continued underperformance in trading and rising costs has resulted in a weakened cashflow position which has led to the appointment of the Joint Administrators. The joint administrators have taken steps to restructure the trading operations, which has resulted in 125 redundancies.”
It is the intention of the administrators to work with the remaining employees to complete a limited number of existing customer orders, while marketing the remaining business for sale. The administrators said they are is also supporting those made redundant as part of this process, though no other details were forthcoming. A timescale for the proposed sale of Kesslers has not yet been made public, nor has its asset list.
Andy Ducker, founding partner, Elaghmore, said of the situation: “As a business focused on designing, manufacturing, and installing display units for retail stores, Kesslers has faced unprecedented challenges over the last two years, leading to substantial losses. While there has been some pickup in demand from retailers, it remains highly volatile. Coupled with significant increases in the cost of raw materials and the rent on its manufacturing facility in East London, we have reluctantly concluded the business is no longer viable. As a result, Kesslers has been placed into administration. The other companies that form the Hexcite Group are performing strongly, and we look forward to helping them to grow.”