Documents which have emerged show that Joules was more heavily indebted than many had thought. A figure approaching -£114m finally saw the business go into administration on November 16th with nearly £38m owed to trade creditors. At the time, the business had slightly over £22m in assets available for preferential creditors.
In its official “statement of affairs”, signed off by Tom Joule and Joules CEO Jonathon Brown, which can be accessed via Companies House, it can be seen that Joules Ltd owed HMRC £3.86 million and that consumers holding gift cards were owed £1.3 million.
As per our previous report in December, Tom Joule who founded Joules in Market Harborough in 1989, had formed a joint venture with Next to buy back the business and its assets for £34 million. Next now owns 74 per cent of the equity in the new business, with Tom Joules holding 26 per cent. Next had also separately acquired the freehold for Joules HQ building for £7 million.The £34m deal struck by Next and Tom Joule with administrator Interpath Advisory is being slammed by TFG which had also bid for Joules.
As we enter 2023, Joules will be operating from 100 stores with a reduced overall headcount.
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