Carpetright poised to be snapped up by rival Tapi

Tapi Carpet & Floors has agreed to buy a clutch of Carpetright stores as well as the struggling retailer’s brand, it was reported on Monday.

According to multiple media reports, rival Tapi is set to buy 54 stores, two warehouses and Carpetright’s intellectual property as part of a pre-pack administration.

It is thought the deal will save around 300 jobs.

However, it does not include the head office in Purfleet, Essex, nor another 200 shops spread across the UK, meaning at least 1,000 jobs remain at risk.

Jeevan Karir, Tapi’s managing director – who worked for Carpetright for over a decade – told the BBC that saving the entire business was “unviable”.

PricewaterhouseCoopers declined to comment. Carpetright, which trades from 272 stores and employs around 1,850 people, filed a notice of intention to appoint PwC as an administrator earlier this month

PwC has been looking for a buyer for the business since then.

At the time, Carpetright said a software attack in April had hit plans to restructure the business.

According to The Times, Tapi is understood to be the only company to have made an offer than involved rescuing both jobs and stores.

Tapi was founded in 2015 by Martin Harris, who left Carpetright to set up the retailer and run Tapi until earlier this year. It expanded rapidly and quickly became a major competitor.

Harris's father Philip – now Lord Harris of Peckham – founded Carpetright in 1988.

Carpetright was hit hard by competition from Tapi and others, and after a series of profit warnings was taken private by Meditator Group in 2020.

But it continued to struggle, and last month announced plans to slash costs and reduce its workforce by around 25%.

The deal is set to be formally agreed and announced later on Monday.