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Portland appointed as Administrators to Goodmans Loudspeakers Limited
Published on: 25 March 2004
The directors of Goodmans Louspeakers Limited, the major manufacturer of loudspeaker systems based in Havant, regretfully announce that they have been compelled to appoint administrators to the company today (March 10th 2004). Despite having taken considerable actions to reverse the trading losses sustained over the past couple of years, Goodmans was still projecting losses for the foreseeable future. The impact of the administration procedure puts 150 jobs at the Havant site at risk.
Graham Payne, Managing Director, commented: "Whilst the company has historically been profitable with a world-renowned reputation for its design and innovation, it has suffered severe price pressure from the automotive market over the past five years which we have been unable to match, despite cutting costs and moving production away to our own facilities in Hungary and Mexico. The board concluded that it was not possible to reverse the losses in the medium term without significant investments and against that background we have been unable to convince the company's financiers to provide the support that the company needed. Adminstration was chosen as the preferred route because it affords the company protection to continue trading and ensures that all creditors and the company's employees are treated equitably whilst we work closely with the adminstrators to find the best way forward for the company and its creditors."
James Tickell, the appointed administrator of the company from leading South Coast business rescue experts Portland Business & Financial Solutions, added: "Of course it is desperately sad that yet another UK manufacturer with a proven track record of export sales around the world fails in the face of oversees competition. Whilst it is early days and we shall be exploring all possible avenues with the directors, including negotiating revised terms with customers and suppliers, it is difficult to see how job losses can be avoided and I think it is unlikely that the manufacturing centre at Havant will survive in its present form. Our next step is to provide a report to creditors within the next eight weeks and we envisage being able to provide further information at that time."
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