Carpetright is teetering on the edge of administration, placing all of its 272 stores and potentially 3,000 jobs in jeopardy. The carpet and tiling retail giant has officially filed a notice to appoint administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as it seeks to guarantee its long-term future.
This development emerged this week when it was disclosed that Carpetright was on the market. In a significant step on Friday (July 12), the company lodged a notice of intention to enter administration at the High Court, which extends protection for the beleaguered retailer as it scouts for a last-minute prospective buyer.
PwC had been previously engaged with the retailer to secure additional funding necessary for continued trade, reports the Express. Concerns deepened following a software attack in April that disrupted trade and compounded financial stress on the firm.
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Cyber assailants targeted the company headquarters in Purfleet, Essex, sending malware to gain unauthorised entry. Carpetright’s network was shut down due to the cyber-attack, although bosses insisted that the virus was contained before any data breach occurred.
Employees, as well as hundreds of customers, were affected by the malicious virus that disabled access to payroll information. A source told The Sun at the time: ‘Some staff networks were taken down including the portals that workers use to Book time off and look at payslips.
“It happened abruptly and was worrying because customers couldn’t get through to helplines. Everything at HQ was taken offline as that was the best way to stop the attack spreading to customer data.”
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