Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fresh doubts over future of Kirkcaldy firm Havelock Europa

The Havelock Europa premises in the John Smith Business Park, Kirkcaldy
The Havelock Europa premises in the John Smith Business Park, Kirkcaldy

There are fresh doubts over the future of Fife shopfitting and interiors company Havelock Europa after the company said it was seeking urgent funding.

Shares in the Kirkcaldy-based firm which employs around 300 people in Fife were suspended after the announcement this morning.

The company secured £8 million in funding in February but last month flagged a potential uncertainty over its ability to continue as a going concern.

The firm said today that its trading conditions had further deteriorated.

The statement said: “Since then, the company has experienced an unexpected increasing credit squeeze from its suppliers, as a result of which it has substantially utilised its available facilities following the re-financing first announced on 20 February 2018.

“The board announces that it has been in discussions with existing funders and investors in the company regarding the provision of further funding, however it became apparent yesterday evening that these were unlikely to result in a positive outcome.

“The company needs further financing for its immediate working capital needs hence the board is obliged to consider steps to protect the position of creditors and is in discussions with potentially interested parties in this regard.

“The company’s ordinary shares will therefore be suspended from trading on AIM with immediate effect pending clarification of its financial position.”

GMB Scotland represents around 90 of the firm’s workers.

A GMB spokesperson said: “The situation is critical and the immediate priority is to find a new buyer or investment that can sustain our members’ employment in Kirkcaldy.”

Havelock Europa, based at John Smith Business Park, plunged into the red last year after one of the worst trading performances in its long history.

Chairman Ian Godden – who took the top job after making a substantial investment in the business in January 2017 – said the past year had proved to be “much more challenging” than expected as the company reported a £5.92 million pre-tax loss for the year to December 31.

The figure compares to a slim £22,000 profit in 2016 and came as sales slid from £60.8m to £53.19m.

The final results were originally due earlier last month but were delayed after an issue in calculating the deficit in the company’s defined benefits pension scheme following a March refinancing.

In his chairman’s statement with the accounts, Mr Godden said the firm faced multiple issues.

“2017 was one of the worst performances in Havelock’s history, being impacted by a lower opening order book brought forward from 2016, changes to the sales mix, lower Government spending on schools, weaker fixed cost coverage and serious issues with the new ERP system,” he told investors.

“In the second half of the year and the early part of 2018, we were held back by a lack of finance, which restricted our ability to source materials timeously and deliver effectively for our customers.”