Black Country tile store saved after rescue deal for firm secured

CTD Tiles, which is on the Enterprise Trading Estate, Pedmore Road, Brierley Hill, is among stores saved in takeover deals.

It has been bought by Kajaria-UKP Limited, a UK joint venture with New Delhi-based tile manufacturer Kajaria Ceramics.

Rescue deals have been struck to save 23 former CTD Tiles stores after the supplier went bust last month. A branch in Sutton Coldfield is also being saved.

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

It ran 86 stores across the UK and employed 425 staff before its collapse.

Administrators swiftly struck a deal for rival Topps Tiles to buy 30 stores, CTD's brands, intellectual property, stock and two distribution sites for £9 million.

However, 56 stores were shut and 268 jobs at the business were lost.

The administrators at Interpath Advisory confirmed they have secured two further deals which will 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 to take on 16 former CTD Tiles stores and associated stock.

Separately, Kajaria-UKP Limited has agreed to save seven stores and take on associated stock, including the branch in Brierley Hill.

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."

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 seven sites rescued by Kajaria are:

Brierley Park, Dudley

Chester, Cheshire

Colchester, Essex

Coventry, Warwickshire

Croydon, Greater London

Derby, Derbyshire

Northampton, Northamptonshire

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