Sofa manufacturer Westbridge saw its IP and design rights sold for £150,000, while soft furnishings manufacturer Belfield Leisure raised over £1m in sales post-administration as part of respective wind-down processes.
Chris Pole and Will Wright from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to Westbridge Furniture Limited and Belfield Leisure Limited on 23 March 2026. Both Companies are part of The Belfield Group.
In the build up to their respective collapses, the companies were incorporated in February 2025 when the business and assets of Westbridge Furniture Designs Limited and Belfield Furnishings Limited were acquired alongside other trading entities of The Belfield Group Limited, via a pre-pack transaction.
Following the acquisition, Westbridge suffered operational disruption which had a greater impact on the business than originally anticipated. This, combined with the loss of a key customer and weak trading in early 2025 placed significant pressure on cashflow. Belfield Leisure was impacted by fragile consumer confidence impacting the wider UK leisure market.
This frustrated the business’ ability to return to a breakeven position, despite significant cost savings being made and a regaining of market share. As a result, Belfield also required a capital injection to manage short-term cash requirements.
Detailed in newly filed documents on Companies House, Westbridge, which is based in Holywell, Flintshire, and employed circa 300 staff, was kept trading for a period of two weeks to convert raw materials and work in progress into finished goods. This allowed administrators to explore any sales of the business assets, maximise stock realisations and enhance debtor collections.
Trading was limited to two weeks as stock levels were only sufficient to fulfil one week of customer orders, there was insufficient funding available to keep the Romanian subsidiary production beyond the first week, and UK operating overheads exceeded forecast sales.
On appointment of administrators, 40 staff were made redundant, while five resigned. As the production was completed, a total of 291 employees were made redundant, with two remaining to support with the realisation of the debtor book.
Administrators also tried to sell the business, which received five expressions of interest from trade parties. However, despite one party visiting the site and the short time frame, no offer was submitted, resulting in the objective of a controlled wind-down strategy.
During the two-week trading period, sales reached £569,000, while £63,000 was also achieved through stock sales from display model sofas and unused materials. Furthermore, the IP and design rights generated interest from several parties in the trade, with the highest offer of £150,000 accepted from Whitemeadow Furniture (see related).
With regards to creditors, secured creditor Virgin is owed £2.5m, while Blandford Capital is owed £3.1m. Preferential employee claims stood at £407,000, with the HMRC also owed £4.2m. Unsecured creditors are owed £7m, which included a further £4m owed to staff. It is expected that creditors will suffer a shortfall of £13.9m.
As for Belfield Leisure, which was headquartered in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and employed circa 200 members of staff, Companies House documents stated that the business continued to trade for a short period after entering administration, generating around £1.5m in sales.
Administrators said the strategy was implemented to maximise stock realisations, enhance recoveries from the debtor book and to achieve a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole.
A number of Belfield’s key customers agreed to support the continued trading for a period of five weeks to maintain continuity of supply and protect debtor realisations for the benefit of Virgin – a secured creditor owed around £3.3m.
At the time of appointment, three employees resigned while 83 staff had been made redundant, leaving 111 employees in place to support the wind-down strategy. Meanwhile, 10 staff had transferred to other group entities outside of the insolvency process.
Administrators also tried to sell the business, which received five expressions of interest from trade parties. However, despite two parties visiting the site, neither submitted an offer, resulting in the objective of a controlled wind-down strategy.
With regards for creditors, as stated Virgin is owed £3.3m as a secured creditor, while Blandford is also owed £893,000 as a second secured creditor. Preferential employee claims stood at £217,000, while the HMRC is owed £1.8m. Unsecured creditors are owed £3.8m, with a further £2.5m owed to staff. It is expected that creditors will suffer a shortfall of £5.7m.
In total, it is expected that creditors of both companies are expected to suffer a combined shortfall of £19.6m.
