Round-up | NEWS
EXCLUSIVE
Former KBB retailer financial controller jailed for fraud
THE FORMER financial controller at Bathroom Village in Bristol has been jailed after defrauding the company of more than £1 million over several years.
Michael Kennedy Black, 56, was sentenced to over 10 years at the end of April after siphoning money due to suppliers into bank accounts he’d set up in his own name.
Black was jailed at Bristol Crown Court on April 22 for six years and nine months for one count of fraud; four years to run consecutively for a second count; and 21 months concurrently on a third charge.
The disappearing money eventually forced the company into a pre-pack
administration, but it has since rebuilt itself into a thriving business. Speaking on the latest episode of The kbbreview Podcast, managing director Paul Mason said they took Black on in 2008 but didn’t notice anything was wrong until 2016. “We were growing
quite sub -
stantially; business was really good, but we were still hitting credit limits and going on stop with suppliers,” he said. “The biggest eye-opener was when Michael went on holiday for two weeks and there was a small query. Normally he took a week’s
holiday, so we
would’ve left it until he got back, but because he had two weeks, we looked into it ourselves.
Harvey Jones acquired in management buyout
PREMIUM KITCHEN manu- facturer and retailer Harvey Jones has announced it has been acquired after a successful management buyout.
The buyout was led by managing director Darren Woolsgrove and was backed by Coniston Capital. The buyout will see the departure from the business of majority shareholders John Curwen and Andrew Kretzschmar.
The move comes just weeks after iconic luxury kitchen furniture manufacturer Clive Christian Furniture was bought out by its former global sales director Phil Cole and Jim Denos, the owner of three US Clive Christian Furniture franchises. Commenting
on the buyout,
Woolsgrove said: “The team and I are delighted to be working with Coniston and Adrian [Fawcett], and we are excited to be collaboratively working with them in Harvey Jones’s next phase of development.” Harvey Jones, which was founded in 1977, manufactures handmade premium
cabinetry in its Cam -
bridgeshire workshop, which is sold through 28 retail
outlets nationwide
and with Coniston’s backing plans to expand further.
The company is now led by managing director Woolsgrove who will now lead the business through the next phase of its development. He will be
supported by the incumbent
executive board of operational director James Hadingham, sales director Matt Dagworthy, creative director Melissa Klink, and marketing director Olivia Faranda. Adrian
Fawcett from Coniston
Capital will become non-executive chairman and has 20 years’ experience in similar roles across multiple sectors, among them bed and mattress manufacturer Silentnight Group. Josh
Henshaw from Coniston
Capital will join the Harvey Jones board. He said: “Darren and the team have built an impressive business and offer a high-end, specialist service in an exciting market. This combination made
the company an attractive
investment proposition and we look forward to working with them to continue to drive growth.”
June 2022 ·
“And that opened up a can of worms. We realised there were payments that weren’t adding up.” Mason said he was in court when the sentence was passed, an experience he described as emotional. “Until you’re in that situation, it’s hard to know how to describe it,” Mason said. “But I felt empty. It felt that the worry we’d had for the last five years had just gone. It was strange that it felt
that empty, because the thing that had caused so much worry and upset had just gone.” You can hear the full story of Bathroom Village and Michael Kennedy Black on The kbbreview Podcast episode ‘The kbb retailer and the £1m fraudster’. Simply follow the links on the
kbbreview.com website or search ‘kbbreview’ in the podcast app of your choice.
Travis Perkins Group’s ‘encouraging’ Q1 reflects strategic progress
TRAVIS PERKINS Group has reported a positive start of the year with financial performance for the group as a whole 13.6% ahead of 2021.
In its most recent update, the group says total sales were up by 17.9% in the merchanting segment, with all businesses performing in line with expectations. This was largely down to pricing, which accounted for two-thirds of the growth with manufacturer increases “con - tinuing to be passed through in an orderly manner.”
The group owns Benchmarx, Keyline, CCF, BSS, and Toolstation, the latter reporting total sales down 6% in the first quarter. Toolstation’s like-for-like sales were also down (11.9%), reflecting a tough prior year due to pandemic restrictions, which the group’s management says it’s confident
will normalise into the
second half of the year. Despite the group’s construction supply chain normalising towards the end of 2021, the firm admits the war in Ukraine and the subsequent impact on the global economy may challenge that relative stability, although the group’s stock levels remain healthy. The group’s forecast for materials price inflation, which was originally
expected to ease into the second half of the year, is now more uncertain. The group believes pricing is likely to form a higher proportion of sales growth across the year than previously thought. The overall cost inflation for the group is expected to remain manageable. Nick
Roberts, chief
executive (pictured), commented: “The group has had an encouraging first quarter and although the wider economic backdrop remains uncertain, we are well placed to build on
this positive start in the coming months. “The energy efficiency of the UK’s built environment remains a key focal point for households and politicians alike and the current cost of energy is likely to prompt further demand for improvement in both new and existing buildings. Allied to the significant pipeline of investment in the UK’s social and economic infrastructure, we remain confident in the structural drivers of demand in our end markets. “As the UK’s largest building materials
supplier and a leading
partner to the construction industry, we are uniquely placed to support the country in this drive and are working closely with all key stakeholders, including Government, house builders, tradespeople and developers to address these challenges.”
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