Canterbury Europe has gone into administration with the loss of 72 jobs in the UK.
Sign in or create an account to earn points for voting, keep track of your reviews, edit them, and more.
Administrators KPMG said the firm had been hit by the culmination of “difficult trading and an "unsuccessful move” into other sports, such as football. The weakening of the pound also added to Canterbury’s problems, as it imports its goods from the Far East.
KPMG said in a statement: “All sponsorship contracts in Canterbury Europe have been terminated as a result of the administration, and the affected clubs will rank as unsecured creditors in relation to any amounts they were owed for the remainder of the contract.”
The European arm of Canterbury employs 86 people, 72 of whom have now been made redundant.
The rest of the Canterbury Group, such as the Canterbury brand founded in New Zealand, is not affected by the administration and continues to trade as usual, although the group is believed to be looking for a buyer or investor.
The firm branched out into football 2 years ago, and recently had sponsorship agreements with: Portsmouth, Preston North End (starting from the 2009-10 season) Mansfield Town, Farnborough, Harrogate Town, Deportivo La Coruña, Lille, AZ and Motherwell
Mansfield Town say they are 'very disappointed' to learn that their kit suppliers Canterbury have fallen into administration.
Stags' new away kit would have been previewed to the travelling fans at Newport this Saturday and against Leicester at home on Tuesday.
Town were also planning to launch the away kit at their forthcoming Open Day on Sunday, 26th July.
The chairman continued: "Our main concern is that our first team have enough kit, followed by replicas for the supporters.
"We will have to act quickly to search for alternatives," he added.
