Land of Leather
 |
|
| Plc | |
| Industry | Furniture retail |
| Fate | In administration with Deloitte |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Kent, United Kingdom |
|
Number of locations
|
2 (September 2009) 109 (December 2008) |
|
Area served
|
United Kingdom & Ireland |
| Products | Furniture |
|
Number of employees
|
850 (December 2008) |
Land of Leather was a furniture retail store based in Northfleet, Kent in the United Kingdom. It operated in the United Kingdom & Ireland.
The company was hit hard by the downward slope in the United Kingdom's housing market which was brought about by the decline in demand, due to a lesser number of people buying and moving homes. [1]
Contents
History
Land of Leather was founded in 1997, and in July 2005, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange, with the assistance of the investment bank, Investec, using the symbol LAN.[2] In December 2008, the company employed 850 people in its 109 stores in the United Kingdom & Ireland.[3] In January 2009, Land of Leather issued profit warnings, and was planning to raise £15M through a new share issue.[4]
In December 2008, Land of Leather's announcement that they were in buyout talks with a number of interested parties, caused their share price to rise by 38.5%.[5] However these talks ended later in December citing "insufficient value for shareholders".[6]
2009 administration
On 12 January 2009, Land of Leather Holdings plc announced that they had entered administration. Lee Manning and Nick Edwards of Deloitte are joint administrators.[7] The company was debt-free, but it was unable to secure additional funds. The company cited reduced consumer spending and the state of the banking market at the time as the causes.[4][8] The administrators are aiming to sell the company as a going concern.
On 26 January 2009, it was announced that 33 stores would close, leaving 76 stores.[9]
"Toxic sofa" lawsuit
Land of Leather sold Linkwise sofas made in China, which contained sachets of the mould-inhibiting chemical DMF. This caused serious rashes to more than 300 users, due to an allergic reaction. Land of Leather had an insurance policy with Zurich Financial Services, but the insurer refused to pay out, claiming that Land of Leather had breached policy terms.
This position was accepted on 18 March 2010, by the High Court of England and Wales,[10] and purchasers will not be indemnified by the insurer.
See also
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References
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- ↑ BBC: Judge rejects 'toxic sofa' claims in burns injury cases, 18 March 2010
External links
- Articles with dead external links from October 2010
- Use dmy dates from May 2014
- Use British English from November 2013
- Pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles using small message boxes
- Furniture retailers of the United Kingdom
- Retail companies established in 1997
- Retail companies disestablished in 2009
- Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
- Companies based in Kent
- Companies disestablished in 2009
- Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom
- Retail companies of the Republic of Ireland
- Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom
- 1997 establishments in the United Kingdom
- 2009 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
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