Jobs lost as second-hand office furniture retailer with Kilmarnock warehouse folds

An online retailer of second-hand office furniture with a site in Kilmarnock has been placed into administration with the loss of more than a dozen jobs.

The firm, 2ND HND, is described as having seen a surge in demand from businesses and consumers in the wake of the pandemic amid higher adoption of both home working and demand for eco-friendly purchases.

However, trading has since been affected by economic uncertainty, and slow payment of debtors has also been an issue, according to joint administrators Shona Campbell of Scottish accountancy firm Henderson Loggie and Lee Green and Andrew Kelsall of East-Anglian peer Larking Gowen. Both the latter organisations are members of PrimeGlobal, which calls itself the Association of Advisory and Accounting Firms.

The Dundonald-based furniture firm had 19 employees, with 13 laid off and six retained to help administrators. It has two warehouses, in Essex as well as Scotland, and an e-commerce website.

2ND HND director Ross Dutton said: “It’s been eight years since starting this journey in the circular economy and upcycling, made possible with great support from many suppliers. It’s a pity we can’t continue this journey to help in the race to net zero. It was a tough market to pioneer [but] we made notable progress on how things needed to change.”

Ms Campbell said: “During the pandemic the company experienced healthy sales because of people furnishing home offices, and businesses reconfiguring spaces. Sales dropped significantly at the same time as larger furnishing contracts for offices declined as a result of the economic slowdown. We will now begin the process of selling the business and assets including the website, intellectual property and stock.”