The press release posted on our home page announces that Mila Hardware is now part of a new company called Arran Isle Ltd which has bought all of the operating subsidiaries of our previous parent Heywood Williams Group plc.

This is the final stage in the financial restructuring of the group which we announced on 1 October and means that we now have the backing of a major UK banking syndicate which is providing more than £6m of new investment for its subsidiaries including Mila.

Although I’m sure competitors have tried to use the uncertainty around the future of Heywood Williams to make mischief about Mila, there can now be no doubt that we have a strong and secure future ahead of us.  Ironically, we now find ourselves on a much more secure financial footing than many of our rivals!

Mila Hardware has not been placed in administration as was rumoured and it is definitely not insolvent.  For our suppliers, customers and employees, it’s business as usual.  All of our suppliers will continue to be paid as normal and all of the liabilities of every operating subsidiary have been taken on by Arran Isle Ltd so no creditors have lost out in any way.

80% of Arran Isle Ltd is owned by Lloyds Banking Group and National Australia Bank who have written off nearly 40% of the group’s debt in exchange for that stake.  They've backed our business because they can see the huge potential which exists for us as the recovery takes hold and they've backed the management team with the same directors and managers staying in place throughout.

We were always very confident that the restructuring would be successful so we already had ambitious plans in place for 2010 with lots of new products lined up and new people joining us to strengthen the team.  It's great that we can now push ahead with those plans knowing that the important deal has been done.

Richard