Joules left creditors £100m out of pocket when it went bust this month

Joules left creditors more than £100million out of pocket when it went bust this month.

The yummy-mummy fashion chain owed £136million to employees, gift card holders, the taxman and other creditors.

It was carrying just £22million worth of assets when it collapsed, appointing administrators from Interpath Advisory.

And after distributing this among ‘preferred’ creditors, which included staff and HMRC, it was still on the hook for £114million, Companies House filings show.

Those left in the lurch included Cushman and Wakefield, owed more than £100,000, Deloitte, owed £300,000 and landlords and suppliers.

Joules, a favourite of the Prince and Princess of Wales as well as presenter Holly Willoughby and singer Taylor Swift, was bought out of administration by Next, saving 1,450 jobs and 100 stores. 

Next teamed up with Tom Joule, who set up the firm in 1989, to secure the £34million deal.

Joules went bust last month after it was unable to repay a bank loan. It had issued a string of profit warnings, having faced huge increases in shipping and other costs.

Next saw off rivals thought to include Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group and Hobbs owner The Foschini Group to secure the deal.

It closed 19 shops but said that it would keep around 100 of 124 sites open. Joules shareholders were wiped out, with their investments plummeting 96 per cent in the run-up to the collapse.