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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Sarah Butler

Made.com: symbol of the pandemic punt that popped post-Covid

Made.com website seen on a smartphone
Made.com went into administration in September with the loss of 300 jobs. It floated at £775m in June 2021. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

From £658,989 owed to Thurrock council, to an art shop in east London left £33,804 out of pocket, to 12,000 people whose furniture never arrived, the details of the creditors who collectively lost almost £187m from the demise of sofa website Made.com are a snapshot of the pain caused by the bursting of the online retail bubble.

Made was among a flurry of stock market listings that raised billions of pounds for founders and private equity backers on the belief that the scale of the Covid-19 switch to buying online would be permanent – only to have those hopes dashed.

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