Canterbury’s European Arm Goes Into Administration

The European arm of sportswear firm Canterbury has gone into administration with the loss of 72 jobs in the UK leaving a host of sports teams looking for a new kit supplier.

Canterbury Europe, based in Stockport, is best known for its rugby shirts, and supplies teams including the Scottish national side, Wasps and Leinster.

Administrators KPMG said the firm had been hit by tough trading and an ‘unsuccessful’ move into other sports, including supplying Premier League football club Portsmouth FC.

All contracts with clubs had now been cancelled, KPMG said with the clubs all now becoming unsecured creditors in relation to any money they are owed, it added.

‘The European business will continue to trade under the administration whilst we try to find a buyer for the business and assets,’ said KPMG partner David Costley-Wood.

He added that the firm had also been hit by the weaker value of the pound increasing the cost of its imports from East Asia.

The firm will continue to employ 14 people while a buyer is found.

Canterbury’s businesses outside Europe are unaffected, although KPMG added that the parent company, New Zealand-based Canterbury Group, was itself looking ‘for a potential acquirer or new investor’.