Allied Carpets was a small retail chain specialising in floor coverings, mainly carpets (80%) and then also laminate and wood flooring and curtains, in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. Following financial difficulties and several changes of ownership, the company was dissolved in 2015.
History
![Allied Carpets - Crown Point Retail Park - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Allied_Carpets_-_Crown_Point_Retail_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1145711.jpg)
It was formed by Harold Plotnek on market stalls in Birmingham in the 1950s. In the end of the 1950s, a warehouse was opened in Birmingham. In the beginning of the 1970s, he joined with Leon Fisher George Morris and Mayer Myers each of whom operated independent carpet stores and they came together under the name Allied Carpets.
The company floated on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
in 1971. It was the first carpet retailer to open very large stores on busy main roads, often after redeveloping former car showrooms. Previously carpet stores were small and only had sample books to show.
Allied's difference was that they were large, with rolls of carpet stocked in the stores and large stocks at a central warehouse, enabling them to supply almost instantly. Beds were introduced in 1972, with a dedicated bedding store in Birmingham. In 1973, with over twenty large stores throughout the country, Allied took over Williams Furniture, a high street chain with over eighty stores.
To facilitate rapid expansion, in 1974, a head office and major distribution centre was opened in West Bromwich. In 1978, it was bought by the
Asda Group
Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
. In 1980, curtains were introduced. In 1985, the company was rebranded as just Allied. A Contracts Division and an Insurance Replacement Division were started in that year, and
upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...
products were first sold.
By 1989, the company had over 180 shops, and the company officially changed its name to the Allied Maples Group Ltd.
At the height of its powers, the chain had a large cultural currency in Great Britain. It was alluded to in
Reeves and Mortimer
Reeves may refer to:
People
* Reeves (surname)
* B. Reeves Eason (1886–1956), American director, actor and screenwriter
* Reeves Nelson (born 1991), American basketball player
Places
;Ireland
* Reeves, County Kildare, townland in County Ki ...
's comedy song 'My Rose Has Left Me' and in ''
One Foot in the Grave'', in which the protagonist expressed his desire to have his ashes scattered in a branch of Allied Carpets to register his dissatisfaction with its customer service. A customer's attempt to enact a similar request was dismissed by the
High Court in 1997.
Sale to Carpetland
In December 1993, it was sold by the Asda Group to Carpetland. Carpetland traded as Carpetland Carpet Centres Ltd, and had financially collapsed in 1990, resulting in a management buyout in August 1991, which resulted in the company having eighty five stores. At the time of the Allied sale, it had about half as many stores as Allied. The company, after the sale, had about 250 stores.
The Allied head office in West Bromwich was closed in March 1994. The company's name was changed from Carpetland to Allied Carpets. The upholstery part of the company was closed and it just sold carpets.
Public offering
In July 1996, it was listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
. At this point, the company was valued at about £200m. The company also owned Carpetland.
Financial irregularities
In July 1998, the company had its shares suspended when financial irregularities were recorded in some of the sales figures from its stores. This came from the practice of recording sales when they had been made, instead of after the carpets had been fitted. The managing director, Ray Nethercott, resigned in April 1999.
Twenty-seven stores, including some of Carpetland, were bought by
Carpetright
Carpetright Limited is one of the largest British retailers of floor coverings and beds. The company is owned by Meditor.
History
The company was established by Lord Harris of Peckham in 1988 when he opened its first shop in Canning Town. in November 1998 for £12m.
Sale to Tapis Saint-Maclou
In September 1999, it was bought for £84m by ''Tapis Saint-Maclou'' of
Wattrelos, France; they are France's largest carpet retailer. At the same time, TS-M bought of
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
, Germany, who also own ''Ihr Teppichfreund''. In 2001, it opened thirty more out of town
retail warehouse
A warehouse store or warehouse supermarket is a food and grocery retailer that operates stores geared toward offering deeper discounted prices than a traditional supermarket. These stores offer a no-frills experience and warehouse shelving stocke ...
stores.
Media Agency
Allied appointed
the7stars
the7stars is a media agency based in the United Kingdom. Clients include Iceland, Warner Music, Ladbrokes Coral Group, Nintendo and Suzuki. In 2017, Campaign Magazine ranked the7stars the 12th biggest media agency in Britain.
History
the7stars ...
as their media planning and buying agency in January 2010.
Administration
!['Allied Carpets', West Park - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/%27Allied_Carpets%27%2C_West_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_656391.jpg)
In December 2008, it appointed
Lazard, the investment bank, to find a buyer for its stores. On 17 July 2009, it was announced that the company (Allied Carpets Properties) had entered administration. Allied was one of several high-profile chains to fall into receivership during the
recession of this time.
The administrators
BDO Stoy Hayward
BDO (an acronym for Binder Dijker Otte) is an international network of public accounting, tax, consulting and business advisory firms that provide professional services under the name BDO. It is the fifth-largest accounting network in the wor ...
immediately sold 51 of the company's 217 stores, and the insurance part of the business to Allied Carpets Retail Limited. This secured four hundred jobs, and saving the company from going the same way as other retail giants, including
MFI,
Woolworths
Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to:
Businesses
* F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores
* Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...
and
Zavvi
Zavvi is an online retailer of entertainment products, including Blu-rays, collectables, homeware and toys. Originally a physical retailer, the brand has been online only since it was bought from administration by The Hut Group in 2009.
History ...
.
Among the casualties was the store at
Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, which closed over that summer after twenty three years in operation – having been one of the first retailers to take advantage of the
Enterprise Zone, that was designated in the area to relieve high unemployment, when it opened that store in 1986. The store has since been taken over by
HomeSense.
On 21 April 2012, it was announced that the company had entered administration again. On 24 April 2012, it announced that the company had been sold, to a company affiliated with
Floors-2-Go
Floors-2-Go was a wood flooring retailer in the United Kingdom, established in 1999. In 2012, the company's affiliates took over Allied Carpets in a pre-pack administration deal.
History
Floors-2-Go was founded in 1999 as a family business, w ...
. This was in a pre pack administration deal.
Structure
The company was based at Allied House, 76 High Street,
Orpington
Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross.
On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...
in the
London Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,336 ...
, near the junction of the A208 and A224. In Scotland, it ran the ''General George'' brand of shops.
See also
*
Carpetright
Carpetright Limited is one of the largest British retailers of floor coverings and beds. The company is owned by Meditor.
History
The company was established by Lord Harris of Peckham in 1988 when he opened its first shop in Canning Town.
*
Floors-2-Go
Floors-2-Go was a wood flooring retailer in the United Kingdom, established in 1999. In 2012, the company's affiliates took over Allied Carpets in a pre-pack administration deal.
History
Floors-2-Go was founded in 1999 as a family business, w ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.alliedcarpets.co.uk
Financial scandal in April 1999Shares suspended in July 1998Competition Commission (PDF)
Carpet retailers of the United Kingdom
Companies based in the London Borough of Bromley
Retail companies based in London
Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom
British companies disestablished in 2015