Courts is a retailer of furniture and electronic goods with stores in the Caribbean and Asia. It was originally founded in 1850 in the United Kingdom. It was known for an advertising campaign in the 1980s and 1990s that featured Bruce Forsyth dressed as a judge ("I'll see you in Courts!"). After this it advertised with a singer singing the "Courts you can" song. At its peak, Courts had 350 stores worldwide with 100 in the United Kingdom which were mostly located in retail parks with some on high streets.
Contents |
In December 2003 Courts PLC breached a number of banking covenants; PWC were appointed by banking syndicate to safeguard its debts. On Monday, 29 November, 2004 shares in Courts plc were suspended at 13.5p and the company went into administration[1] and PWC were appointed administrators with debts of £280 million. PWC earned record fees for both pre-administration and post-administration work. The reasons given to appoint administrators was because of a fall in UK sales and Courts had been hit by the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan to its Caribbean arm. The administration caused public controversy because the sudden store closures had seen a number of outlets almost besieged and in some cases damaged by angry customers and left thousands of customers out-of-pocket and without the furniture they had ordered and deposits they had paid. SB Capital owners of Furnitureland acquired the largest number of branches. Today all branches of Courts in the United Kingdom have been sold off or closed down but there continues to be a presence in the Caribbean and Asia.
Courts history:[2]