A 7th high street retailer goes into administration

It started with Woolworths, then MFI, then Zavvi, the Officers Club, Whittards of Chelsea, Adams and now, according to BBC News, the French women’s clothing store chain Morgan has gone into administration.

With the income of many High Street retailers shrinking, combined with massively reduced margins caused by rising costs and heavy discounting, it is clear many retailers simply will not be able to cover all their outgoings, particularly in terms of rental and staff costs. Many retailers are tied into long term leases that they may be unable to get out of without going into administration.

2009 will no doubt be a testing time for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers who have high fixed overheads. Through prudent management and decades of successful trading, Hazlemere Window Company Ltd. is in the fortunate position of not only owning the freehold of its Head Office, Factory and Showroom, but having its entire manufacturing site at Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, unencumbered.

This strong foundation, along with its largest ever order book going into 2009, is very comforting news to the staff and the thousands of Hazlemere Windows customers. The company’s positive balance sheet also enables it to negotiate the best possible deal on high grade raw material and with all its suppliers, so despite the challenging trading environment in the UK at present, the Hazlemere Group is more than well placed to weather the difficult economic times ahead.