Cardiff-based office interiors company Paramount enters administration

Cardiff-based office design and fit-out company Paramount D&B has gone into administration. The Cardiff-based company, which also has an office in Bristol, reportedly faced cashflow difficulties as it expanded from its core market of office design and fit-out to also become a contractor for developers repurposing old office buildings for social housing.

The creditor position is believed to be in excess of £5 million. What the creditors will receive back, if anything at all, is yet to be determined. The business has been voluntarily placed into administration by its directors. This followed failed efforts to sell the business as a going concern, as well as a possible pre-pack deal.

Susan Clay and Huw Powell, of insolvency firm Begbies Traynor, have been appointed as joint administrators. A handful of staff from the workforce of around 50 have been retained for a short period to support the administration process.

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The company, which changed its name last year from Paramount Office Interiors to Paramount D&B, has leased its offices in Cardiff and Bristol.

Paramount was originally set up by entrepreneur Nigel Roberts over 30 years ago. However, the Roberts family exited when it was acquired in a management buyout led by Richard Jones six years ago. In 2021, employees, through an employee ownership trust, became majority owners (51% stake) in a £2m deal.

Its latest published account for the financial year to June 2022, filed with Companies House, showed revenues of £30m and a pre-tax profit of £1m.

As part of its expansion into the southwest of England, the company opened its Bristol office in 2022, having said at the time that it was aiming to grow revenue to £50 million by 2025.