Earlier this month private equity firm Rutland Trust agreed to swap an outstanding loan of 15.8m and 6.6m of interest into new preference shares in Openshaw Group. The group's bankers have also made additional funds available to the business.  

Openshaw has only just filed its accounts for 2002, the year it acquired Bousfield. The accounts were delayed by a number of factors, including the complexity of the acquisition. A goodwill write-off of 16.2m contributed to a 23m loss on sales of 43m. 

Chief executive Tony Halker said the group had since done "an awful lot of cost cutting and restructuring". 

"That's mostly done for now. The plan now is to increase sales and get much more customer focused. We lost business when we bought Bousfield because we messed up the service, but today our service is excellent."