The Australian and New Zealand operations of vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys will be wound up, after administrators didn’t receive any viable offers to buy the business as a going concern.
Administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers were appointed to the Godfreys group of companies at the end of January, with a “challenging” retail environment taking a significant toll on the 93-year-old business.
At the time, PwC administrators Craig Crosbie, Robert Ditrich and Daniel Walley announced plans to immediately close 54 of Godfreys’ 141 stores within a fortnight, affecting the employment of 171 Australian and 22 New Zealand staff.
SmartCompany has confirmed there are currently 113 stores still operating across Australia and New Zealand, including 28 franchise stores.
PwC said on Wednesday it received 55 expressions of interest and six indicative offers for the remaining stores during the sale process, but these offers were either withdrawn or were “not sufficient in securing the business’ longer-term future”.
The administrators said they now have no alternative but to progressively wind-down the Godfreys operations in both Australia and New Zealand.
Employees have been told that remaining stores will be closed in phases from now until May 31, 2024, which will affect their jobs. Additionally, 25 head office employees were made redundant on Wednesday.
Stores will continue to trade on an interim basis while existing stock is cleared.
Godfreys franchisees were also told on Wednesday that the franchisor will not longer be able to support them. These stores will be permitted to trade until the end of March to sell existing stock, or their operators will be able to return stock that was sold to them during the administration process to receive credits on any amounts they owe the business.
Administrator and PwC Australia partner Craig Crosbie said winding up the business was “not the outcome Godfreys had hoped for” after what he described as a “rigorous” sale process.
“In the absence of any further bidders coming forward as intermittent trading continues, the process of closing all remaining stores will progress over the next eight weeks,” he added.
“We recognise this is a difficult time for staff, franchisees, and other stakeholders, and we will continue to work closely with all parties to ensure they are informed and supported over the coming weeks.”
This article was updated at 9.50am on Thursday, March 21, 2024.
Editor
Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
