Home Bargains said to be planning swoop on pottery brand Denby

(Sharecast News) - Home Bargains is reportedly plotting a swoop on the historic Denby pottery brand two months after it collapsed into administration. According to Sky News, the retailer - which trades from hundreds of stores across Britain - is pursuing an acquisition of the Denby brand and some other assets. It was unclear on Tuesday how close a deal was, or whether other parties remained in contention to buy the Denby brand.

Retail executives told Sky that a process run by insolvency practitioners at FRP Advisory has drawn interest from a number of other homewares chains in recent weeks.

Denby, which was founded in 1809 and also owns the Burleigh brand, plunged into administration at the end of March, citing soaring costs and weak consumer spending.

FRP has continued to trade the business during the administration process, although Denby ceased manufacturing operations in April, triggering close to 50 redundancies. It said its subsidiaries in South Korea, the US and China were not affected by the initial appointment of administrators.

Denby produces tableware and other products from Derbyshire clay, on the same site on which pottery originated.