Dozens of jobs lost as North East furniture firm Godfrey Syrett collapses

Mayor of North Tyneside Norma Redfearn with staff from Godfrey Syrett at the opening of its showroom to mark its 70th anniversary in 2017

Killingworth-based Godfrey Syrett went into administration earlier this week.

The firm also had two County Durham factories, at Belmont and Langley Moor.

James Lumb, Howard Smith and David Costley-Wood of KPMG were appointed Joint Administrators on Tuesday.

A statement said: "The company designs, manufactures and installs high quality furniture solutions for the education, healthcare, defence and corporate sectors from three sites in Killingworth (North Tyneside), Langley Moor (Durham) and Belmont (Durham).

"The business, which employed 204 staff, has ceased trading while the administrators review the position and pursue opportunities to sell the business.

"Regrettably, the majority of staff have been made redundant. Eleven members of staff have been retained while the Administrators assess the position of the business."

James Lumb said: "Challenging trading conditions in the bespoke furniture sector, coupled with severe cashflow difficulties, have proved unsustainable for the business and led to the administration.

"We are supporting staff through this difficult period and will assist their claims to the Redundancy Payments Office."

Asset sale enquiries should be directed to: Andrew Henderson on 0191 401 3790.