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A British furniture company has crashed into liquidation after 26 years in business. Habbio Home Limited, which manufactures sofas in the UK, appointed liquidators on May 6, according to filings on the public record yesterday, The Gazette.

The firm's website states the family had more than 70 years of experience making sofas by hand in Derbyshire before starting Habbio in 2020 to make the "UK's most sustainable sofa". The company said it was "committed to protecting the British manufacturing industry for the people and communities that rely on it". Registered at the Innovation Centre, Keele University, it had vowed to keep the workshop in the UK to support jobs and ensure that every sofa was "handmade to last by real UK expert craftspeople".

It continued: "Keeping our workshop in the UK also means we can look after our people properly - with safe conditions, pay that is at least 20% higher than the living wage and no zero hours contracts."

Habbio has made modular design sofas that can fit through doorways and be assembled once inside the home. They had a strong focus on sustainability, with sofas made from recycled and sustainably sourced materials that were 100% recyclable.

However, a meeting of creditors was held on April 24, and a resolution to wind up the Company was considered in a meeting on May 6. Michael Paul Roome and Jamie Playford of Leading Business Services acted on behalf of the firm.

Businesses appoint liquidators for many reasons, including falling sales, rising costs, or overtrading.

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Companies House accounts do not delve into the financial state of either Habbio Home Limited or Habbio Limited, which trade from the same address under the same director. Only Habbio Home Limited appears to have appointed liquidators.

Other businesses have also fallen into liquidation in the past few weeks. Soho Gourmet Group, a catering company that worked with Eastenders and Dancing on Ice, fell into liquidation on April 16, appearing to owe more than £285,000.

The London-based business, registered at Avery Hill Road, had supplied mobile kitchen trucks, kitchen trailers and mobile pizza ovens to the film and TV industry.]

The Express has contacted Habbio and the liquidators for comment.