A firm has collapsed into administration, slashing over 100 jobs. Waterline Limited, based in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, went bust earlier this month, forcing 105 people into redundancy. The business, which was advertised as “the UK’s largest supplier to the independent kitchen retail sector” worked with thousands of retailers and fitters across the country during its 77 years in operation.

Among its traders was kitchen fitter Dean Bridgen, who said he was left in a state of “panic” after spending £20,000 on a new showroom kitchen in Redruth, Cornwall, using items purchased through Waterline. Mr Bridgen told the BBC he had received a call just days before opening the showroom, warning that the company was experiencing “difficulties” and “turbulence”.

“That was about the only news we got for weeks,” he added. “Everyday you are hoping that the phone rings and it is new information or that they’ve been saved.”

“The first thing we did was panic. We just didn’t have any communication.”

Alex Cadwallader, an administrator appointed on October 9, said the firm had seen a spike in orders during the Coronavirus pandemic, with demand dwindling in the years and months since.

Mr Cadwallader also pointed to financial pressures linked to the cost-of-living crisis and higher National Insurance costs which had contributed to a judgement being made on the unviability of Waterline’s future.

He also said directors had followed appropriate advice but found that it was not always possible to alert clients when the business was struggling.

“Openly telling all your customers about the financial position of the business generally leads to it falling away relatively quickly, so it would not be a route directors would be forced to take,” the administrator explained.

“[The directors] were forward thinking, they were proactive and took all the correct steps you would expect them to.”

Waterline, which was founded in 1947, had around 5,000 customers when it filed for administration, according to its website.