The party supplier business founded by the Princess of Wales's parents collapsed with a shortfall of around £2.6 million to suppliers, lenders and the taxman, according to administration filings. Party Pieces Holdings, which was founded by Carole and Michael Middleton in 1987, tumbled into administration last month.
The company, which was immediately sold to entrepreneur James Sinclair in a pre-pack administration deal, blamed the impact of the pandemic on the party market and pressure from the cost-of-living crisis for its failure. Party Pieces saw its revenues shrink to £3.2million last year from £4.5million in 2021, and slid to a £900,000 net loss before tax as a result.
A report from administrators at Interpath Advisory said they were hired and oversaw the rescue sale after previous takeover attempts could not be agreed. The report said the firm had an estimated £197,739 worth of assets to return to preferential creditors.
