A popular home retailer is set to shut all its stores causing over a hundred jobs to be lost, furthering the decline of UK high streets. Interiors specialists Fired Earth has entered administration, axing 133 jobs in the process and closing all of its UK shops.
All 20 of its showrooms across the country will be shut but Fired Earth’s headquarters will remain open in Banbury and warehouses will fulfil outstanding orders, the company has assured customers. Leonard Curtis insolvency practitioners Dane O’Hara and Neil Bennett have taken control of the business on October 31 as part of the administration process.
The retailer had been present across British high streets and internationally – serving 22 independent stockists and selling in outlets in Denmark and Norway. The company generated £15million in revenue in 2024, but still recorded a loss of £1.6million that year, a similar story to the financial difficulties that plagued the company the year before in 2023.
Mr O’Hara explained how the comapany came into administration. He said: “Fired Earth has been loss-making for some time. In the last three years, the company has been supported by its shareholder via substantial working capital loans while efforts were made to return the business to profitability.”
The administrator added: “Unfortunately, the company continued to incur trading losses, and its investor was not prepared to provide further funding in the absence of a viable turnaround strategy.”
Stores will be shut in Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Cheltenham, Truro, Nottingham, Chester, Knitsford and Harrogate. Several parties have expressed strong interest in buying the company’s asset, though no buyer for the business has emerged as it stands, the administrators said.
More than 17,000 shops are forecasted to closed by the Centre for Retail Research, a sharp increase from the 13,479 that shut in 2023. The competition against rising online shopping, increase in operational expenses and higher taxes have created a difficult environment for high street businesses to thrive, analysts say.
Amazon’s gross annual profit in 2024 was $311.671 billion, a 15.4% increase from 2023, according to Macrotrends. National Insurance contributions for employers were put up from 13.8% to 15% this April, putting further strain on business owners hiring staff to work in stores.