The UK's leading specialist distributor of decorative surfaces International Decorative Surfaces (IDS) is being put up for sale after Alastair Massey and Tony Wright of business advisory firm FRP Advisory were appointed as joint administrators on Monday 9th September 2024.
Based across 12 sites in England and Scotland, 11 of which remain operational, the company was one of Europe's largest distributors of decorative surface materials, with a stockholding of over 6,000 product lines available to customers and a strong presence in the industry for more than 25 years.
The appointment follows the significant slowdown in the property and construction sectors leading to funding difficulties at IDS.
At the time of appointment, the company employed approximately 393 people, some of whom have sadly been made redundant. FRP is assisting those affected through the Redundancy Payments Service.
The joint administrators are continuing to trade through the stock holding and market the business and its assets for sale. IDS has a number of strengths, including a half a million sq ft of warehousing across its regional sites, supporting over 50,000 monthly transactions, and an 85-vehicle fleet enabling nationwide delivery within 24-48 hours.
Alastair Massey, partner at FRP, said: "While IDS has faced significant challenges in recent months, it remains a business with considerable strengths and capabilities. We're now focused on exploring all options to secure a future for the business, including marketing it for sale and we would encourage any parties interested in acquiring the business to make contact with us as soon as possible.”
