Vector Seating Ltd. (02578662): administration
- Status
- Administration ended
- Administration began
- 2019-01-31
- Administrators
- Andrew Howard Beckingham, Siann Huntley
- Administrators' firm
- Leonard Curtis
- Formerly
- Vector (1991) Limited; Hypoint Limited
- Incorporated
- 1991-01-31
- Location
- Bristol
- Industry
- 31010 Manufacture of office and shop furniture
Why it went into administration
- Cash flow / liquidity pressure
- Bad debts / customer insolvency
- Brexit
- Competition / price pressure
From the administrators' statement
Vector Seating Limited (formerly Vector 1991 Limited) was incorporated in January 1991 to acquire the assets and business of Vector Office Chairs from CH Industries which was in receivership.
The Company produced office chairs using bought-in generic components from specialist component suppliers, doing the upholstery in-house, and then selling the chairs to office furniture dealers who then marked them up and sold them on to organisations in the private and public sector for their own use.
The Company's business expanded very rapidly and was fairly successful in the 1990s. After the millennium, business became more difficult, initially fuelled by low cost eastern European imports, and over the last 10 years, by cheap Chinese imports. Chinese imports of fully assembled rather than locally assembled chairs have now taken over the bulk of the market previously occupied by the Company. Initially these Chinese imports were of poor quality and could only be sold at the lower levels in the market, but their quality has now steadily improved and they largely dominate all but the mid-upper and the top end office chair market.
Administrators' statement of proposals (2019-03-18) · Companies House register