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Rational shut down after no buyer can be found


GERMAN KITCHEN manufacturer Rational is being closed down after its administrators failed to find a buyer to secure the company’s future.


This news comes just days after German kitchen maker Warendorf became insolvent for the second time in three years. Rational


filed for provisional


insolvency on September 16 after a local power failure led to irreparable IT damage, which meant that normal production processes could no longer be carried out.


Administrator Stefan Meyer and the restructuring team at Pluta Rechts- anwalts GmbH held talks with more than 60 potential buyers to take over the production and selling of kitchens under the Rational brand. However, no interested party was willing to take over production.


In a statement, the administrators said that a continuation and restructuring of the business was not possible without an injection of fresh capital and that for this reason the company has to be shut down.


AO revenue plummets as it focuses on improving profitability


ONLINE ELECTRICALS giant AO has reported a decline in revenue and an increased operating loss after axing the loss-making and cost-heavy parts of its business. AO said it had made solid progress in the plan to focus on profits and cash generation. As well as cutting loose its loss-making German operation, which ceased trading in July this year, it has also removed warehousing space, rationalised its vehicles fleet, reduced its office footprint, completely restructured its senior and middle management, removed its £30m run rate overhead costs and introduced delivery charges for all orders. It has also ended its business with the house-building sector.


Commenting in its interim results statement for the six months ending September 30 (HY23), AO founder and chief


executive John Roberts


said: “During the first six months of the year, we’ve made good progress with our strategic realignment as we focus on profitability and cash generation, all of which is


yielding the results we


expected. We’ve now closed the loss- making and cash-consumptive parts of our operations meaning the remaining UK business is cash- generative, and are successfully closing our German business with a minimal cash impact.”


He concluded: “I’m pleased with this progress, against the backdrop of an extraordinarily difficult macro- economic climate. I’m confident our strategy is the right one, and we look


January 2023 ·


to the future with cautious optimism.” The figures show that revenue for AO in HY23 fell 17% to £546 million from £661m in HY22. Losses before tax increased by 168% from £4m to £12m. Adjusted EBITDA rose 11% in HY23 to £9m. It blamed the 17% fall in sales on a reduction in the overall electricals market as well as the actions they have


taken to remove non-core


channels and loss-making sales. Commenting on AO’s interim results, Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said: “AO’s laser-like focus on cash and profitability has hit sales hard which fell significantly on last year. As the sector contracts, they can ill afford to serve parts of the market at a loss and are prioritising profitability at the expense of market share.”


West One Bathrooms in Mayfair wins kbbreview Christmas Window Competition 2022


THE MAYFAIR showroom of West One Bathrooms has been chosen as the winner of the kbbreview Christmas Window Competition 2022 for its elegant festive window display.


The scene featured a regal deer among snow and birch trees with colourful hints of gold, pink and blue. The ‘Winter Wonderland’ design was created by London-based artist Aga Skiba who painted it using acrylic paint. West One Bathrooms even shared a video of the window’s creation, showing the intricate details of the process and the full painting. Kbbreview will donate £500 to West One Bathrooms’ nominated charity, courtesy of Quooker, which has sponsored the kbbreview Christmas Window Competition for another year.


Overall, we had many entries and people engaging with the competition across social media. Windows ranged from classic lights and trees to bright and colourful displays that stood out on the high street. The kbbreview team loved reviewing the windows and thought that the variety of Christmas scenes were very impressive. People let their creativity go wild in making a festive display. The runners-up were: Interiors of Harrogate, Daden Interiors in Fleet, and Napier Bathrooms in Edinburgh.


Interiors of Harrogate had two sides to their window. On one side was a simple window painting with a cute Rudolf and a simple gold and white tree. While the other had hanging baubles and an intricate illuminated Christmas tree. Daden Interiors kept it clean and white, with a cheeky elf painted in the window’s top corner. The snow-covered trees were made out of wool and were festooned with felt mice.


Napier Bathrooms kept things jolly with lots of Christmas presents wrapped up in beautiful bows. It featured two Christmas trees decked with baubles and more ribbons, finished off with candy canes and a star.


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Pluta said that the 61 workers who were still employed at Rational were informed of the situation in a staff meeting and that they will have to be dismissed as soon as the social plan for the closure has been negotiated with the works council.


Commenting on the news, insol-


vency administrator Stefan Meyer said: “The past few weeks have not been easy for everyone involved. There were numerous constructive rounds of negotiations, but in the end the interested parties did not submit an offer. The very unusual starting situation for Rational, coupled with a well-known difficult overall economic situation, is likely to be responsible for this.” He added: “This is very unfortunate for the employees, who were extremely committed to the matter, for which I am very grateful to every single employee.” Insolvency proceedings were opened at the District Court of Osnabrück on December 1 and creditors should now register their claims with the administrator.


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