Shopping television channel Ideal World has gone bust, after its programming went off air on Wednesday (July 3).
The majority of the 275 staff at the Peterborough-based business have been laid off, days after the station revealed on Monday that both the television channel and associated website were offline.
Administrators Kroll said on Thursday: “It is the intention of the Joint Administrators to work with the remaining employees to complete an orderly wind-down of the business. Existing customer orders will be fulfilled where possible.”
Earlier in the week, the company apologised for any “inconvenience” caused to viewers.
This is what we know so far.
Why is Ideal World off-air today?
After Ideal World was verified not to be trading online or through its television station, it has now been confirmed that the business has gone bust.
As a result, all Ideal World programming is no longer on air.
The latest development follows the channel dropping off Virgin Media last month. The channel also dissapeared from Freeview and other platforms earlier this week.
“We regret to inform you that Ideal World has had to temporarily suspend broadcasting and our website,” a message reads on the website.
“We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused. We hope to be back online as soon as possible.”
We've got some great news! 🥂 @more2ltd pic.twitter.com/ooW67UrxAp
— Ideal World TV (@IdealWorldTV) October 24, 2022
Why has Ideal World been suspended?
The shopping channel, which has been running since 2000 and is one of Peterborough’s largest employers, was taken over by entrepreneur Hamish Morjaria last year.
Companies House documents show Mr Morjaria ceased to have “significant control” in February. Records show that it has since been run by Sports Direct’s management.
The Peterborough Telegraph reported that Ideal World has been put up for sale with “with expressions of interest due by the end of last week”.
“Over the weekend, the actions of a few key trading partners have added to a recent difficult trading period and therefore we have taken the decision to suspend all trading with immediate effect,” CambsNews reported the management as having said.
Is Ideal World still trading?
The Ideal World business has now gone bust.
At present, administrators at Kroll have taken over the business.
Michael Lennon, head of restructuring at Kroll said that “overall trading was not strong enough for the business to continue in its present format.”
The Peterborough Telegraph reported that the sale of Ideal World to Mr Morjaria came a month after its satellite company, Create and Craft, was sold to Hochandra Global.
