Bensons for Beds has snapped up Carpetright stores and will aim to rescue jobs

The bed specialist acquired 19 locations passed up by Tapi during the buyout of its rival carpet retailer. 

Bensons said it could begin trading in the shops within the next few months and the “exciting move” would create opportunities for Carpetright employees who had lost their jobs. 

Bensons chief executive Nick Collard said: “Increasing the number of Bensons stores remains a key growth priority and we are excited about this opportunity to take on 19 store units. Today’s announcement supports our overall plan to expand our 162-strong store estate to over 200 over the next few years.”

The locations are: Aberdeen, Ashton, Belfast, Canterbury, Edmonton, Exeter, Irvine, Kettering, Old Kent Road, Oldbury, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Slough, Sutton, Torquay, Bath, Eastbourne, Gillingham and Solihull.

Collard said: “While market conditions for higher ticket purchases have remained very challenging, Bensons has continued to make real progress, by remaining focused on those things in our control.

“Since our return to profitability in 2023, we’ve continued to see significant market share gains across all our core categories, reflecting the hard work from all our colleagues across the organisation. This work, alongside the announcement today on the new stores, leaves us well placed when the wider market starts to recover, allowing us to realise the longer-term ambitions for Bensons and its colleagues.”

Tapi swooped in to buy rival Carpetright in a multimillion-pound deal at the end of July but selected just 54 stores to take over from the retailer. 

Tapi said the move was in a bid to avoid interference from the competition regulator as well as offloading stores that were unviable. 

Tapi managing director Jeevan Karir said initially it had wanted to save all of Carpetright but it “quickly established saving the entire business was unviable” and it was “mindful of how the Competition and Markets Authority may view a larger deal”.

He said the deal would save around 300 jobs but it was not believed to include more than 200 shops across the country or the company’s head office in Purfleet, Essex, risking around 1,000 jobs.