Courts Plc
Encyclopedia
Courts is a retailer of furniture and electronic goods with stores in the Caribbean
and Asia
. It was originally founded in 1850 in the United Kingdom
. It was known for an advertising campaign in the 1980s and 1990s that featured Bruce Forsyth
dressed as a judge
("I'll see you in Courts!"). After this it advertised with a singer singing the "Courts you can" song. At its peak, Courts had 350 stores worldwide with 100 in the United Kingdom which were mostly located in retail park
s with some on high street
s.
The reasons given to appoint administrators was because of a fall in UK sales and Courts had been hit by the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan
to its Caribbean arm. The administration caused public controversy because the sudden store closures had seen a number of outlets almost besieged and in some cases damaged by angry customers and left thousands of customers out-of-pocket
and without the furniture they had ordered and deposits they had paid. SB Capital owners of Furnitureland acquired the largest number of branches.
Today all branches of Courts in the United Kingdom have been sold off or closed down but there continues to be a presence in the Caribbean and Asia.
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. It was originally founded in 1850 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was known for an advertising campaign in the 1980s and 1990s that featured Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
dressed as a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
("I'll see you in Courts!"). After this it advertised with a singer singing the "Courts you can" song. At its peak, Courts had 350 stores worldwide with 100 in the United Kingdom which were mostly located in retail park
Retail park
In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated car parking. Its North American equivalent is a power centre. Retail parks are found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in highly accessible locations and are aimed at households...
s with some on high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
s.
Administration
In December 2003 Courts PLC breached a number of banking covenants; PWC were appointed by banking syndicate to safeguard its debts. On Monday, 29 November, 2004 shares in Courts plc were suspended at 13.5p and the company went into administration and PWC were appointed administrators with debts of £280 million. PWC earned record fees for both pre-administration and post-administration work.The reasons given to appoint administrators was because of a fall in UK sales and Courts had been hit by the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...
to its Caribbean arm. The administration caused public controversy because the sudden store closures had seen a number of outlets almost besieged and in some cases damaged by angry customers and left thousands of customers out-of-pocket
Out-of-pocket expenses
Out-of-pocket expenses are direct outlays of cash which may or may not be later reimbursed.In operating a vehicle, gasoline, parking fees and tolls are considered out-of-pocket expenses for the trip...
and without the furniture they had ordered and deposits they had paid. SB Capital owners of Furnitureland acquired the largest number of branches.
Today all branches of Courts in the United Kingdom have been sold off or closed down but there continues to be a presence in the Caribbean and Asia.
Timeline
Courts history:- 1850 – Courts founded in Canterbury, England, by William Henry Court
- 1945 – Courts sold to the Cohen brothers who began to expand the business
- 1946 – Courts introduced hire purchaseHire purchaseHire purchase is the legal term for a contract, in this persons usually agree to pay for goods in parts or a percentage at a time. It was developed in the United Kingdom and can now be found in China, Japan, Malaysia, India, South Africa, Australia, Jamaica and New Zealand. It is also called...
terms - 1959 – First overseas Courts store opened in Kingston, JamaicaKingston, JamaicaKingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
- 1959 – Courts listed on London Stock ExchangeLondon Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
. By this stage Courts had 34 retail stores in the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... - 1965 – Courts opened first store in BarbadosBarbadosBarbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
and diversified product range to include electricals - 1969 – Courts Jamaica listed on local stock exchangeJamaica Stock ExchangeThe Jamaica Stock Exchange is the principal stock exchange of Jamaica. It is known as the JSE. It was founded in 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica and its current executive chairman is Mr Roy Johnson....
- 1971 – Courts entry into the Pacific Ocean (FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
) and SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... - 1978 – Courts Barbados listed on local stock exchangeBarbados Stock ExchangeThe Barbados Stock Exchange or BSE is Barbados' main stock exchange. Its headquarters are in the capital-city Bridgetown.The Barbados Stock Exchange is among the four major regional Caribbean stock exchanges. The other three being the exchanges of Jamaica, the Eastern Caribbean, and Trinidad and...
- 2006 (December) – Regal Forest Holdings LimitedUnicomer GroupRegal Forest Holding Co. Ltd., operating as Unicomer Group , is a Central American furniture and appliance chain with headquarters in El Salvador. The Unicomer Group operates over 430 stores in Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States and employs 9,000. As of 2010 Mario Siman is the...
, a retailer of El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
assumed ownership of the 11 CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
businesses formerly owned by Courts PLC.