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Ecommerce site Thedrinkshop.com calls in the administrators

30 January 2023 By Arabella Mileham

Online UK retailer thedrinkshop.com has gone into administration, db has learnt.

The Kent-based drinks retailer, which was established in November 1999, appointed administrator Opus Restructuring LLP (based in Maidstone) on 18 January 2023, documents filed at Companies House revealed.

It has also posted a brief notice on its website, informing customers, although no further details about the financial situation have yet been revealed. The administrators have been approached for comment.

The company’s last set of unaudited financial accounts was filed in June 2022 for the year ending 30 September 2021, although it is exempt from full auditing as a small company. It showed assets of around £980k (plus fixed tangible assets of £33,233) and debts of £756,305, up on the previous year’s £690,013.

The accounts confirmed ten members of staff in September 20121, with the company directors listed as Timothy Francis and Matthew Blackstone, who co-founded the business.

The company’s website says that its services is used by “tens of thousands of consumers, on/off trade accounts and corporate clients”, and has also catered for the wholesale market including bars, restaurants and hotels across the UK since 2007. It said it had a list of more than 6,000 drinks including some products “not available elsewhere on-line or on the High Street”.

In a recent report by marketing agency Salience, which published a list of the 50 most prominent websites in the UK alcohol sector, the online retailer was ranked 30th, having slipped from the previous year by 9 points. In particular, its visibility online was not considered strong.

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