CTD Tiles store in Cambridge among 23 more rescued in new deals

Cambridge’s former CTD Tiles store has reopened as Tile Giant after a rescue deal with Stiled Limited.

CTD Tiles fell into administration in August after coming under pressure from a downturn in the home improvement sector.

Its Bar Hill store was saved when rival Topps Tiles agreed to buy 30 stores, CTD’s brands, intellectual property, stock and two distribution sites for £9million.

However, 56 stores - including the one in Nuffield Close, Cambridge - were shut and 268 jobs at the business were lost.

But on Wednesday (11 September), administrators at Interpath Advisory confirmed they had secured two further deals to allow 23 former CTD stores to reopen.

Stiled Limited, which owns the Tile Giant and Tile Choice brands and operates 49 stores across the UK, is taking on 16 former CTD Tiles stores and associated stock, wtih more than 40 former CTD Tiles employees being re-employed.

The Cambridge store is already trading again as Tile Giant, with those members of staff who temporarily lost their jobs back in store.

Separately, Kajaria-UKP Limited, a UK joint venture with New Delhi-based tile manufacturer Kajaria Ceramics, agreed to save seven stores and take on associated stock.

James Lumb, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “We are pleased to have reached these agreements which pave the way for a further 23 stores to reopen under new ownership, and which we hope will create a significant number of new employment opportunities for those former workers who were impacted by redundancy, as well as others in the local communities.

“We’d like to thank all those stakeholders who have helped to get these agreements over the line in such a short timeframe, and wish both Stiled and Kajaria-UKP all the very best of luck for the future.”

Matt Williams, chief executive of Stiled, said: “We are delighted to reopen these stores that had been closed.

“Our focus will be working to establish these locations as Tile Giant and Tile Choice stores with new colleagues to provide market-leading tile ranges.

“We urge all CTD Tiles LTD customers to get in touch with us so that we can arrange to fulfil any outstanding orders.”

Viren Mundra, chief executive of Kajaria-UKP, said: “Kajaria is the seventh largest tile producer in the world, selling premium tiles in over 35 countries.

“We opened the UK’s largest tile showroom in London earlier this year.

“This is the next step in our UK expansion and we look forward to serving customers from these seven new locations.”

– The 16 sites rescued by Stiled are:

Aintree, Merseyside
Basildon, Essex
Blackpool, Lancashire
Cambridge Central, Cambridgeshire
Chelmsford, Essex
Cricklewood, Greater London
Dundee, Scotland
Eastbourne, East Sussex
Exeter, Devon
Ipswich, Suffolk
Plymouth, Devon
Rochdale, Greater Manchester
Slough, Berkshire
Stirling, Scotland
Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
Whetstone, Leicestershire

– The seven sites rescued by Kajaria are:

Brierley Park, Dudley, West Midlands
Chester, Cheshire
Colchester, Essex
Coventry, Warwickshire
Croydon, Greater London
Derby, Derbyshire
Northampton, Northamptonshire