Bradley Wiggins may face bankruptcy proceedings for one of his companies if he fails to respect an agreement with financial liquidators, with the ‘Bradley Wiggins’, ‘Wiggins’ and ‘Wiggo’ trademarks put up for sale to help reduce the debts.
The problems do apparently not affect Wiggins’ personal solvency position. However, in 2020 he agreed to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) regarding Wiggins Rights Limited, the company behind some of his business affairs and which is intertwined with associate companies of the defunct Team Wiggins, where he ended his racing career.
Last year Cycling Weekly revealed that Wiggins was disputing the claim by the liquidators. The liquidators' reports show that the sale of a property in Spain worth over £600,000 could be used to help pay back creditors as part of the IVA.
However, according to public records updated online at Companies House this week, the liquidators said they have yet to be paid any of the £979,953.
The supervisor of Wiggins’s IVA has told the liquidators that the 2012 Tour de France winner has recently been issued with a “notice of breach” of the conditions of his arrangement, sparking concerns of bankruptcy.
“...if the breach is not remedied then the IVA may be terminated. In the event the IVA is terminated the director may become subject to bankruptcy proceedings and this would potentially substantially increase the expected timeframe for recovery of the outstanding directors loan account.”
In the 16-page document the liquidators also revealed that they had instructed valuation agents Axia Valuation Services to sell the ‘Bradley Wiggins’, ‘Wiggins’ and ‘Wiggo intellectual properties. It is unclear what they may be worth.
The liquidators also updated the claims from creditors, with HM Revenue and Customs for taxes in Britain claiming £313,447. Other unsecured creditors are shown as owed £425,795. The liquidators have so far claimed costs of £25,312.
In December 2020 a spokesperson said that “Bradley's involvement in the companies was not day to day,” and that “this in no way affects Bradley's personal solvency.”
After the latest liquidator's progress report, Wiggins gave a comment to Cycling Weekly, saying the case had “gone on for a few years now with no apparent end in sight”.
Wiggins claimed that his legal representatives had experienced “a fair amount of difficulty” in accessing documents.
“It’s a very historical matter that involves professional negligence from [others] that has left a s**t pile with my name at the front of it to deal with!" Cycling Weekly reported Wiggins as saying.
“Happens to a lot of sportsmen while they’re doing the grafting and on that there'll be a number of legal claims from my lawyers left right and centre as a result.”
