Type
Bankruptcy
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Chichester, Ipswich, Eastbourne, Gosport, Swanwick, Brixham, Inverkip
Sector
Wholesale / Retail
Retail trade
Retail trade
47 - Retail trade

130 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
17 August 2007
Employment effect (start)
17 August 2007
Foreseen end date

Description

Peters Opal, a firm that retails luxury boats, has been declared bankrupt and 130 have been consequently made redundant. Peters Opal sells luxury motor cruisers, motor yachts and sailing boats made by a range of manufacturers. The firm has sites at Chichester, Ipswich, Eastbourne, Gosport, Swanwick, Brixham, and Inverkip, although most of the company’s 180 staff are based at the firm’s headquarters in Chichester. Accountancy firm KPMG have been appointed as administrators. Jane Moriarty, partner at KPMG Restructuring and joint administrator, said:

‘Due to difficult trading conditions the company has experienced extreme cash flow problems.’

‘Although the business continues to trade, we have unfortunately had to make 130 members of staff redundant.’

Peters Opal lost a distribution contract with yacht maker Sealine in July 2007. This followed the loss of a similar contract with Fairline in 2005. The company’s sales had also been affected by the poor weather that the UK has experienced in previous months.


Sources

  • 19 August 2007: The Financial Times
  • 17 August 2007: BBC News

Citation

Eurofound (2007), Peters Opal, Bankruptcy in United Kingdom, factsheet number 65703, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/65703.