Kilmarnock, Scotland, February 18--A deal that would rescue stricken Stoddard International, Scotland's oldest carpet maker, is expected to be announced today, according to The Glasgow, Scotland Herald.
Athough the newspaper said the move could be "scuppered" if the potential buyer cannot raise enough money to satisfy creditors.
It has been almost six weeks since the company collapsed with £9m of debts and the receivers were called in following a failed attempt to secure last-minute finances.
An insider yesterday said: "A deal is very close and the receivers do have a preferred bidder. The delay has simply been about this company trying to find enough money to satisfy Stoddard's creditors.
"That is, after all, the point of what the receivers are trying to do. A resolution to this is likely to become clear tomorrow."
Colin Dempster of Ernst & Young, one the joint receivers appointed on behalf of creditors, earlier this month confirmed the negotiations were based on selling Stoddard as a going concern and to continue "carpet manufacturing in Kilmarnock".
The potential suitor has not been identified.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Scotland is understood to have provided a £500,000 emergency loan to the receivers to keep the historic carpet company trading while a buyer is sought.
Nonetheless, an insider close to the negotiations warned more redundancies could follow – even if a sale as a going concern were achieved.
Some 266 Stoddard employees have already been made redundant following the appointment of the receivers on January 6 – leaving 120 workers remaining.
Stoddard's problems, typical in Britain's declining textile industry, stem specifically from falling demand for its upmarket Axminster carpets.
At stake now is what can be salvaged from the remaining jobs at the firm, as well as the continued existence of a Scottish company which traces its roots back to 1837, whose products have graced stately homes, embassies, the White House and royal palaces around the world.
More than half-a-century ago, Stoddard also made the red carpet on which the Queen walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey on her wedding day.
