Carpetright in administration: The full list of Hampshire and Isle of Wight stores to close

Carpetright has been bought in a rescue deal by rival Tapi, but will shut more than 200 stores and cut more than 1,000 jobs. Stores in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are expected to be among those axed including the store at Ocean Retail Park in Portsmouth.

The stores in Park Gate near Fareham, Central Retail Park in Havant and Waterlooville’s Wellington Retail Park are also under threat.

It was announced on Monday the flooring retailer Tapi had agreed to buy 54 Carpetright stores, two warehouses, the brand and its intellectual property in a pre-pack administration deal.

However, the deal will not save the majority of the business. The stores expected to close over the coming days, as provided by PwC, in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are:

• Churchill Retail Park, Andover
• Park Gate, Fareham
• Central Retail Park, Havant
• Carisbrook, Isle of Wight
• Ocean Retail Park, Portsmouth
• Nursling, Southampton
• Wellington Retail Park, Waterlooville
• Winnall, Winchester

Jeevan Karir, Managing Director of Tapi Carpets & Floors Limited said; “Our goal, initially,w as to try to save all of Carpetright. However, as we looked into the details of the situation, we quickly established that saving the entire business was unviable. The business has been materially loss making for a number of years and it has significant debt held by the owner.

“We then turned ourselves to trying to save a number of stores whilst being mindful of how the competition authorities would look at any deal. So, we arrived at 54 stores and 2supporting warehouses. All of which are exceptional and that we’d be proud to have as partof the Tapi family.”