Fired Earth in Essex Road

IF you are going to run a luxury tile and paint shop, some might have assumed Islington – with all its middle class clichés – would be the perfect place.

But Fired Earth has closed its doors for the final time after heavy losses running back to 2023.

It fell into administration despite the company raising £15million in revenue for the past year and working on furnishing range collaborations with Marks & Spencer.

The company has shut all 20 branches nationwide, including its shop in Cross Street, off Essex Road.

Only its head office in Banbury is still running to fulfil existing orders.

It had begun life as a small business selling terracotta tiles from an Oxfordshire farm in 1983.

Insolvency expert Dane O’Hara said: “Fired Earth has been loss-making for some time. In the last three years, the company has been supported by its shareholder via substantial working capital loans while efforts were made to return the business to profitability.”

He added: “Unfortunately, the company continued to incur trading losses, and its investor was not prepared to provide further funding in the absence of a viable turnaround strategy.”