Direct to Customers Ltd - Administration

Direct to Customers Ltd, an online timber cutting business, has been sold in a pre-pack deal after Mark Supperstone and Simon Jagger of ReSolve were appointed joint administrators on 27 June.

Direct to Customers was incorporated in 2020 when a gap in the market was identified for a simple, online timber cutting service. A key aspect of the company’s business model is that it cut products to size based on a customer’s desired dimensions.

Despite strong sales from its three online stores, Direct to Customers struggled due to increasing operating and sales costs.

The director took steps to improve profitability by increasing retail prices, negotiating better terms with suppliers and recycling off-cuts from previous orders where possible. However, the business was impacted by high inflation and the significant increase in energy costs, and ReSolve was engaged in late May to undertake an accelerated marketing process. This culminated in a pre-pack sale to Online Retail Services Limited. 17 jobs were saved.