Due to a number of issues facing the Company and the NZ furniture industry in general, the company has requested Receivership, but we are continuing to trade and have many forward orders. We anticipate returning to normal in the next few months. In the mean-time it is safer than ever to purchase from us as all payments are protected by the Receivers Guarantee.
Thanks to all our loyal customers who are continuing to place their orders and ensuring our future.
arrow down for MEDIA RELEASE - Otago Daily Times 9/5/2008
FURNITURE MAKER REQUESTS COMPANY BE PLACED IN RECEIVERSHIP
By DAVID BRUCE
Oamaru-based furniture manufacturer Willetts Furniture Company Ltd has been placed in receivership, but managing director Colin Willetts believes it can trade out of its difficulties. Accountant Colin Wollstein, of Brady and Wollstein, in Oamaru, was appointed receiver on May 5 at the request of Mr Willetts that all the company's property and assets be placed in receivership. Mr Wollstein is overseas and could not be contacted for comment. When contacted yesterday, but Mr Willetts said the company could continue to trade in the immediate future.
"I believe we can trade out of the receivership in time. We have a huge amount of forward orders and very strong support from staff, suppliers and customers," he said. That includes strong interest for the new Eco range of furniture the company has just launched on the market.
The Company employs 12 staff at its showroom and production plant in buildings in Harbour St, the heart of Oamaru's historic precinct. The receivership follows a series of setbacks the company encountered over recent years, with no single one being the predominant factor. Mr Willetts established the Company in Oamaru in 1985, producing crafted furniture, initially recycling kauri. Its reputation grew to the extent it attracted contracts to provide furniture for hotels, resorts and other developments. These included the Millbrook Resort development, the Queenstown botique hotel Eichardt's, the St Moritz Hotel in Queenstown and the executive residence at Otago University. The Company continues to supply Millbrook Resort.
It established an export market for rimu furniture to the United Kingdom and until recently had its own retail outlets in Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland. At its peak in the mid-1990s, Willetts Furniture employed about 90 staff. It received a major setback in 2003 when Government legislation cut off its supply of rimu timber, which ended the export market in the United Kingdom it had built up over a 10-year period.
Willetts then switched to New Zealand native beech. The beech timber used by the company is accredited by the worldwide Forest Stewardship Council as a sustainable product, reflecting the strong ecological approach taken since the company was formed in 1985 using recycled kauri timber.
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