Boss's vow to rebuild crisis furniture maker

Classic Furniture entered administration in November owing almost £3.4 million to a total of 220 creditors, including 40,000 to Telford & Wrekin Council, £350,000 to HMRC, and even £250 to St George's Cricket Club.

Now the assets of the company have been bought by a new company set up by one of its largest private sector creditors.

Bob Evans' firm, Shropshire Pine Company, makes table tops for furniture companies all over the UK, and was owed a six-figure sum by Classic Furniture. Mr Evans has now taken over on a single site in Whitchurch after its former directors failed to take the company back.

"It's going to be a battle to get customers back on board. The name was tarnished within the industry at the end, he said.

"There's a team of about 40 people there now, we lost about 90 on one site. We can manufacture furniture and be profitable now. The company had grown to £10 million a year turnover, and we anticipate doing about £4 million.

"We had a lot of negative response in November, with people cancelling orders, but I think they are coming back now."

He added: "I would have thought we would take another 20 people back on by the second half of the year. I'm not going to push it in another direction, just give it more direction to push."

Established in 1971, Classic Furniture made furniture for clients in the hospitality and drinks sectors.

It was taken over in 2006, and achieved turnover £9 million in 2011, when it had also acquired rival Country Seat Ltd from administration.

The acquisition left the company with limited growth opportunities and increasing overheads, administrators said, and as customers scaled back growth plans, Classic suffered a fall in its turnover, and could not cope with its overheads.

While its former directors initially attempted to buy the company back out of administration, this proved impossible, and now Mr Evans has stepped in under a new company name to which the assets are now being transferred. He had initially been brought in to try to help the firm before administration.

He believes that lower-than-expected post-Olympic spending pushed Classic over the edge.