Made.com collapse: Nottingham auction house to sell off stock

An auction house has announced it has been appointed to sell all of Made.com's UK stock following the firm's collapse.

The online furniture firm has gone into administration, leading to hundreds of job losses.

John Pye Auctions, based in Nottingham, said administrators had instructed them to sell the entirety of the company's UK stock inventory.

The sales are expected to begin later in November.

Leicestershire-based retail giant Next is buying Made's brand name, website and intellectual property for £3.4m, but has said it will not buy its remaining stock.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have said there will be 399 job losses at Made.com, mostly redundancies.

The chief executive of Made.com, Nicola Thompson, previously apologised to everyone affected by the business going into administration, adding that the firm had "fought tooth and nail" to avoid this outcome.

She described Made.com as a "much-loved brand" that had thrived in a world of lower prices, stable demand from its customers and reliable supply chains but said that "world vanished".

The retailer, which sourced furniture directly from designers and manufacturers, gained a loyal base of mostly younger customers. Last year, it was valued at £775m after floating on the London Stock Exchange.

But more recently the company hit problems, as households cut back on big-ticket purchases. Global supply chain issues have also left customers waiting months for deliveries.

John Pye Auctions said items for sale from the firm would include sofas, sideboards, beds, tables, artwork and soft furnishings.

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