Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Snow1964]

Unimetals Recycling which has 27 sites and 650 staff has filed for compulsory administration (liquidation) after failing to find a buyer

Unimetals Group, one of the UK’s largest metals recycling businesses, has filed for compulsory liquidation, putting around 650 jobs at risk.

The company, which operates 27 sites nationwide and is a significant supplier of processed metals to the UK’s steel, copper and aluminium industries, is expected to begin winding down as early as Tuesday after efforts to secure fresh funding or a buyer collapsed.

Government officials had been monitoring the situation closely due to Unimetals’ position within the domestic steel supply chain.

Unimetals entered financial distress in recent weeks after filing multiple notices of intention to appoint administrators.

The company had been seeking new funding to stabilise its operations following its £195m acquisition of Sims Metals’ UK business last year.

A key backer withdrew from a planned refinancing package, triggering a search for emergency investment that ultimately failed to produce an agreement.

Advisers from Alvarez & Marsal had been coordinating discussions with potential buyers, with several major metals and steel groups approached, but no transaction was secured.

In a statement confirming the move, a Unimetals spokesperson said: “We have worked tirelessly to explore every possible option to secure new financing for Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd, with the aim of meeting our financial obligations and safeguarding the future of the business. This included an accelerated M&A process, supported by our advisers and undertaken in full collaboration with stakeholders, to identify potential buyers or investors. Regretfully, despite substantial interest and attempts at completing a deal, no transaction was concluded.

“As a result, we have today filed a petition for the compulsory liquidation of Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd. We recognise how distressing this news will be for everyone connected to Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd, particularly our employees who have worked tirelessly over the last year since we acquired it from Sims to try and turn this business around. Their dedication, skill, and resilience are the backbone of this business.

“Our priority now is to work closely with all stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers, creditors, and our regulators, to ensure that the liquidation process is managed safely, responsibly, and transparently. We are working urgently to agree on a clear plan and timeline for what happens next.”

With liquidation proceedings now underway, the future of the company’s 27 UK facilities, spanning locations such as Bristol, Peterborough, Derby, Nottingham and Manchester, is uncertain. Unless a last-minute buyer emerges for parts of the business, most of the workforce is expected to face redundancy.

Hundreds of jobs at risk as Unimetals enters liquidation | TheBusinessDesk.com

Winding down is expected as early as Tuesday after efforts to secure fresh funding or a buyer collapsed

www.thebusinessdesk.com

 

[KevinBrum12]

Unimetals Recycling which has 27 sites and 650 staff has filed for compulsory administration (liquidation) after failing to find a buyer

Hundreds of jobs at risk as Unimetals enters liquidation | TheBusinessDesk.com

Winding down is expected as early as Tuesday after efforts to secure fresh funding or a buyer collapsed

www.thebusinessdesk.com

Metals recycling company files for liquidation - From BBC News Report

There is a railway connection with this business through a certain recovery processor in South Wales that has been taking redundant EMU's apart....

Unimetals said it recognised how distressing the news was for its employees who had "worked tirelessly" since it took over Sims Metal's UK-based business in 2024.

"Their dedication, skill, and resilience are the backbone of this business," the statement continued

Grim news for all the staff concerned and I hope something can be salvaged in the coming days and weeks.

 

[Halwynd]

Not looking great for Asda at the moment...

Brought to its knees by the asset-stripping Issa brothers and private equity company TDR Capital, they've just had to sell more 'family silver' - 24 stores and a distribution depot - in order to shortly pay an outstanding loan to previous owners Walmart. Now they're having to pay rent via the P&L to the new owners. Cashflow can't be that great at the moment and might well get worse, so they're trying to get suppliers to give them a bung so they can lower prices and increase cashflow.

Asda moved their website platform from Walmart's to their own a couple of months ago and it's not gone well. Poor Allan Leighton (CEO) who has inherited this whole mess is reported to be furious with his senior IT managers for botching it. I myself was an online delivery customer until a month ago, but using their new website was like pulling teeth - so bad that I've buggered off to Sainsbury's and forfeited a remaining 8 months Asda Delivery Pass. I feel bad because the delivery drivers were always great, as were the store staff when I visited. But Sainsbury's website is far, far better and the prices are, perhaps surprisingly, at least to me, similar. Pick the Nectar offers wisely and you can buy products far cheaper than Asda too.

Until recently if anyone had ever said Asda would go under I'd have chuckled. Today I'm not so sure - I'd say there's a fair chance another player might end up having to bail them out.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Not looking great for Asda at the moment...

Brought to its knees by the asset-stripping Issa brothers and private equity company TDR Capital, they've just had to sell more 'family silver' - 24 stores and a distribution depot - in order to shortly pay an outstanding loan to previous owners Walmart. Now they're having to pay rent via the P&L to the new owners. Cashflow can't be that great at the moment and might well get worse, so they're trying to get suppliers to give them a bung so they can lower prices and increase cashflow.

Asda moved their website platform from Walmart's to their own a couple of months ago and it's not gone well. Poor Allan Leighton (CEO) who has inherited this whole mess is reported to be furious with his senior IT managers for botching it. I myself was an online delivery customer until a month ago, but using their new website was like pulling teeth - so bad that I've buggered off to Sainsbury's and forfeited a remaining 8 months Asda Delivery Pass. I feel bad because the delivery drivers were always great, as were the store staff when I visited. But Sainsbury's website is far, far better and the prices are, perhaps surprisingly, at least to me, similar. Pick the Nectar offers wisely and you can buy products far cheaper than Asda too.

Until recently if anyone had ever said Asda would go under I'd have chuckled. Today I'm not so sure - I'd say there's a fair chance another player might end up having to bail them out.

That is the sanitised version!

Remember Asda came very close to failing in the early 1990s, before Archie Norman and Allan Leighton straightened them out. This time round they may not be so lucky

Unfortunately their USP in recent years was price, and that's gradually been eroded which means people start to notice their grubby, uninviting store environment more and more. Throw in dreadful availability following the fudged SAP / Manhattan implementations and its gone very wrong very quickly.

And the biggest shame of all - if it they do fail - is that the people who deserve to lose nothing will lose everything, and the Issa brothers will never need to work again

 

[m0ffy]

I read an article a few weeks ago (in the FT?) outlining that Asda or Morrisons had to leave the market, either through acquisition, merger, or bankruptcy. Both are on the ropes following their respective acquisitions by private equity. Morrisons has sold its forecourts; now it’s closing cafes, and stores are slated for closure.

Food retail is a tough market and the other players have a more solid position and proposition.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I read an article a few weeks ago (in the FT?) outlining that Asda or Morrisons had to leave the market, either through acquisition, merger, or bankruptcy. Both are on the ropes following their respective acquisitions by private equity. Morrisons has sold its forecourts; now it’s closing cafes, and stores are slated for closure.

Food retail is a tough market and the other players have a more solid position and proposition.

I have a Morrisons very local to me. It is going downhill, not as grubby or tired looking as ASDA last time I looked BUT heading that way. You can tell Morrisons have cut back on staff - the lack of stock rotation on the shelves is painfully apparent. I have observed rushed staff just shoving the stock replenishment in front of the older stock already on the shelf - ends up with stuff at the back of the shelf going out of date much more often.

 

[Halwynd]

That is the sanitised version!

Remember Asda came very close to failing in the early 1990s, before Archie Norman and Allan Leighton straightened them out. This time round they may not be so lucky

Unfortunately their USP in recent years was price, and that's gradually been eroded which means people start to notice their grubby, uninviting store environment more and more. Throw in dreadful availability following the fudged SAP / Manhattan implementations and its gone very wrong very quickly.

And the biggest shame of all - if it they do fail - is that the people who deserve to lose nothing will lose everything, and the Issa brothers will never need to work again

My own local Asda Superstore is always very clean and tidy to be fair - but I visit the Southport store around the corner from the railway station recently every now and again, usually about 8am when you'd most expect it to be smart, and it's often pretty shabby - you can tell staff morale isn't good. As you say, the Issa brothers are laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I have a Morrisons very local to me. It is going downhill, not as grubby or tired looking as ASDA last time I looked BUT heading that way. You can tell Morrisons have cut back on staff - the lack of stock rotation on the shelves is painfully apparent. I have observed rushed staff just shoving the stock replenishment in front of the older stock already on the shelf - ends up with stuff at the back of the shelf going out of date much more often.

Yeah, sounds familiar

Its such a false economy, and the problem for UK food retailers is that their margins are so skinny and their fixed costs so high that a percentage point off the sales line can tip them into a death spiral

 

[KevinBrum12]

You wonder if Asda is going to do a Woolworths and disappear off the High Street and retail parks like the "Pick-and-Mix behemoth in 2009, with similar scenes at Asda \stores.

Leighton of course has connections with Woolies, In the 1990's he was trying to engineer a merger between Asda and |Woolies, with Asda taking advantage of Woolies histroric planning permissions for food retail in its High Street and Town Centre stores. The merger talks soon stopped when Walmart put in their offer for Asda. Of course when Woolies did go bump, plenty of the food retailers bought the stores to expand their convenience footprint. Who is going to want all those Asda sores, unless it is for redevelopment?

 

[GusB]

You wonder if Asda is going to do a Woolworths and disappear off the High Street and retail parks like the "Pick-and-Mix behemoth in 2009, with similar scenes at Asda \stores.

Leighton of course has connections with Woolies, In the 1990's he was trying to engineer a merger between Asda and |Woolies, with Asda taking advantage of Woolies histroric planning permissions for food retail in its High Street and Town Centre stores. The merger talks soon stopped when Walmart put in their offer for Asda. Of course when Woolies did go bump, plenty of the food retailers bought the stores to expand their convenience footprint. Who is going to want all those Asda sores, unless it is for redevelopment?

Asda is leasing the stores back.

https://corporate.asda.com/newsroom/2025/20/11/agreement-of-sale-and-leaseback-of-certain-asda-store-assets

Asda today confirms that it has reached a sale and leaseback agreement on 24 stores and its Lutterworth depot with two separate buyers.

The key elements of these transactions are:

• Four stores (Small Heath, Colindale, Coventry Abbey Park and Killingbeck) have been sold to DTZ Investors and leased back.
• Twenty stores and the Lutterworth depot have been sold to Blue Owl Capital and leased back.
• These transactions have raised a total of £568 million.
• All properties are subject to 25-year lease agreements, with a contractual option to renew for an additional 10 years at each renewal point.
• Asda will continue to operate all sites as normal, with no changes for colleagues working in these locations.

An Asda spokesperson said:

“Asda’s property strategy is centred on maintaining a strong freehold base while also taking a considered and selective approach to unlocking value from our estate where appropriate. These transactions reflect that approach, enabling us to realise value from the sites while retaining full operational control.”

 

[Peter Sarf]

Asda is leasing the stores back.

https://corporate.asda.com/newsroom/2025/20/11/agreement-of-sale-and-leaseback-of-certain-asda-store-assets

So they are "selling the family silver" or at least some of it - for now.

 

[SuspectUsual]

So they are "selling the family silver" or at least some of it - for now.

Exactly. And a spokesman starting by mentioning “a strong freehold base” in a piece about flogging sites off makes it clear to me this isn’t really what they want to be doing

 

[m0ffy]

Asda is leasing the stores back.

https://corporate.asda.com/newsroom/2025/20/11/agreement-of-sale-and-leaseback-of-certain-asda-store-assets

BT did this in the 2000s to recoup some of the billions they’d lost through 3G spectrum auctions and various failed ventures, except in BT’s case, every operational building was sold. They also sold O2 and its connected businesses. Today, property leaseback remains a significant cost to them, and they bought another mobile network anyway.

 

[KevinBrum12]

Exactly. And a spokesman starting by mentioning “a strong freehold base” in a piece about flogging sites off makes it clear to me this isn’t really what they want to be doing

Something else Woolworths did in the period leading up to their High Street demise.

 

[Djgr]

I read an article a few weeks ago (in the FT?) outlining that Asda or Morrisons had to leave the market, either through acquisition, merger, or bankruptcy. Both are on the ropes following their respective acquisitions by private equity. Morrisons has sold its forecourts; now it’s closing cafes, and stores are slated for closure.

Food retail is a tough market and the other players have a more solid position and proposition.

Two companies sold to individuals with no interest or expertise in food retailing, what could possibly go wrong?

 

[jon0844]

Exactly. And a spokesman starting by mentioning “a strong freehold base” in a piece about flogging sites off makes it clear to me this isn’t really what they want to be doing

Standard business practice. We all know the company will eventually fail, but there's major profit to be extracted for now - and plenty of people will make a LOT of money along the way. When it does fail, all those buildings have a value for someone to come in and acquire at a nice discount, plus I'm sure the Asda and Morrisons brands are strong enough that they'll be snapped up - quite possibly by the same investors that can just keep on playing the same game over and over.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Standard business practice. We all know the company will eventually fail, but there's major profit to be extracted for now - and plenty of people will make a LOT of money along the way. When it does fail, all those buildings have a value for someone to come in and acquire at a nice discount, plus I'm sure the Asda and Morrisons brands are strong enough that they'll be snapped up - quite possibly by the same investors that can just keep on playing the same game over and over.

Well quite. I am just left feeling sorry for all those "valued employees". I too have been one of them, in my case I ended up with a nice lump sum to leave a job that had no future anyway.

For the customers it will be less choice and less competition. Granted there will be new growth in the guise of Lidl and Aldi. Funny how they have grown in the size of stores that the big four (ADSA, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco) grew out of. I will probably have to drive to a supermarket further afield.
For the employees some will move on to new and better pastures and some will fall by the wayside.

 

[dorsetdesiro]

I predict Asda & Morrisons likely would need to merge to survive

 

[Peter Sarf]

I predict Asda & Morrisons likely would need to merge to survive

But have either of them got the money to buy the other !. Or the money to make any changes.
I guess a lot of duplicated stores closing.
An easy saving would be to wipe out one whole head office and supply system.

 

[SuspectUsual]

But have either of them got the money to buy the other !. Or the money to make any changes.
I guess a lot of duplicated stores closing.
An easy saving would be to wipe out one whole head office and supply system.

Head offices reasonably close to each other so if they were able to retain the staff they wanted to, a "best of the best" team could be created. That's a massive "if" though.

And if it was the Asda system that got binned off after all they've spent on it over the last 4 years and all the issues its caused them, well that'd be a shame

The other thing in a merger / acquisition's favour, I think, is that both Asda and Morrisons are run by cold hearted, hard headed people now, so there'll be no emotion in there, just a desire to extract money. Anyone who was remotely close to the Safeway / Morrison "merger" will know all about how Ken Morrison's gigantic ego caused a lot of aggravation

There will be a lot of store duplication - that was one of the good things about the Safeway / Morrisons merger that there were relatively few stores required to be divested. (And that in turn meant we got a Waitrose in Otley, which was nice)

 

[jon0844]

But have either of them got the money to buy the other !. Or the money to make any changes.
I guess a lot of duplicated stores closing.
An easy saving would be to wipe out one whole head office and supply system.

Don't you just borrow money and put the debt on the newly acquired business or something?!

 

[Djgr]

I think Morrisons is salvageable but Asda is best put out of its misery.

 

[stuartl]

Only one store I know, but I've just been to my local ASDA and it was very busy. Plenty of stock on shelves.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But have either of them got the money to buy the other !. Or the money to make any changes.
I guess a lot of duplicated stores closing.
An easy saving would be to wipe out one whole head office and supply system.

You can do a merger without purchasing the other one. I do wonder this - both of them seem to be in a very poor state. Morrisons has always struggled since it took on the former Safeway stores and dragged down a business that was a fairly reasonable premium supermarket on the Sainsburys sort of level, while Asda has been wrecked by the Issa Brothers who might be good at running petrol stations but don't have a clue about budget supermarkets.

 

[SuspectUsual]

while Asda has been wrecked by the Issa Brothers who might be good at running petrol stations but don't have a clue and are convinced they know everything about budget supermarkets.

There, fixed that for you

 

[dorsetdesiro]

The surplus ex-Asda/Morrisons stores will just go to other retailers with the larger sites divided into the ubiquitous Dunelm, B&M, Food Warehouse etc.

When the asset strippers eventually tire of Asda/Morrisons by the time there's nothing left to save then maybe one will be taken over by the stronger of the two. Then the merged group may have a sort of management buyout allowing the asset strippers to exit and move on to prey on new retail victims?

 

[Backroom_boy]

S

Head offices reasonably close to each other so if they were able to retain the staff they wanted to, a "best of the best" team could be created. That's a massive "if" though.

And if it was the Asda system that got binned off after all they've spent on it over the last 4 years and all the issues its caused them, well that'd be a shame

The other thing in a merger / acquisition's favour, I think, is that both Asda and Morrisons are run by cold hearted, hard headed people now, so there'll be no emotion in there, just a desire to extract money. Anyone who was remotely close to the Safeway / Morrison "merger" will know all about how Ken Morrison's gigantic ego caused a lot of aggravation

There will be a lot of store duplication - that was one of the good things about the Safeway / Morrisons merger that there were relatively few stores required to be divested. (And that in turn meant we got a Waitrose in Otley, which was nice)

Story was all the hi-tech Safeways back end systems were binned off to use Morrisons archaic manual microfiche system instead

 

[SuspectUsual]

Story was all the hi-tech Safeways back end systems were binned off to use Morrisons archaic manual microfiche system instead

A lot of Morrisons ordering was manual, even in the mid 2000s. Most of the range ordered as "pull" by stores, seasonal as a "push" from the centre. It worked for Moggy's because their range was so small and the stores were very similar in size and volumes, so any real outlying orders could quickly be checked.

Safeway was a hugely complicated business (massive variation in store size, much bigger SKU count etc etc) so it couldn't be run "the Morrisons way", not that it meant Sir Ken didn't try.

And because the group head office was Bradford, it meant the Safeway people tended to be the ones that left, so Morrisons were left with a business they couldn't run properly and they'd binned the people that knew how.

This is an interesting article about it

Sir Ken Morrison – his legacy and private equity | Simon Laffin

There is a lot of discussion at the moment about the legacy of Sir Ken Morrison and whether would have approved of a private equity bid for his company. I g ...

laffins.net

(Link to article about Sir Ken Morrison)

 

[Peter Sarf]

Clayton Equipment - UK manufacturer of locomotives is appointing administrators. I have heard.

And here is a link to a news article.

Historic rail engineering firm alerts administrators | TheBusinessDesk.com

Locomotive manufacturer seeks protection from creditors after losses and falling headcount

www.thebusinessdesk.com

 

[GusB]

A lot of Morrisons ordering was manual, even in the mid 2000s. Most of the range ordered as "pull" by stores, seasonal as a "push" from the centre. It worked for Moggy's because their range was so small and the stores were very similar in size and volumes, so any real outlying orders could quickly be checked.

My last role in Safeway was stock management - SM3 was the system that was used. It was more or less fully automatic and, as long as accurate stock counts were kept, it ran fairly smoothly.

I transferred from a part-time job in a mainstream store to a full-time contract in a smaller, recently-converted, Presto store. Despite the shop being less than a mile away from where I began, there was a separate regional manager and a completely different culture.