Customers of the collapsed wedding list firm Wrapit are unlikely to get any money back from the business, administrators have said.

KPMG said it “did not consider funds will be available for distribution” to Wrapit’s unsecured creditors, including tens of thousands of customers as well as suppliers and staff.

The company, which had a showroom at the City Plaza shopping centre in Birmingham, ceased trading on August 4, leaving an estimated 3,000 couples waiting for their gifts. A buyer for the business has not been found, KPMG said, resulting in 55 of 73 staff losing their jobs.

The administrator said around 800 of the couples would get “some” of their presents, with the remainder unlikely to receive anything at all.

That would leave most of the 100,000 guests who have bought presents with nothing to show for their gift.

Around 80 per cent of purchases were bought with a credit or Visa debit card and should be eligible for a refund through the card provider, Wrapit’s managing director disclosed in an email to customers last week.

Those who bought with cheques, Switch or Maestro cards are likely to lose out.

KPMG said the firm’s remaining workers will be retained for some time to ensure that couples who have stock waiting for them in the warehouse receive some of their gifts.

The company and administrators will continue to operate the helpline for the time being to deal with queries from couples, the administrator added.

KPMG’s Myles Halley said: “At this stage, we do not consider funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.”
Wrapit, which handled around 2,500 to 3,500 wedding lists a year, called in the administrators after an unsuccessful attempt to refinance.

The online firm also blamed HSBC bank for withholding its credit and debit card income. The bank dismissed any suggestion it was responsible for the failure, saying it had done all it could over recent months to assist the directors.

Wrapit was co-founded by former fashion journalist Pepita Diamand in 2000 to allow couples to compile their lists, with guests able to buy items online through the website.

It bought and sold the items, with the aim to deliver them within eight to 12 weeks of the list being closed.

The firm also had showrooms in London’s West End and Wandsworth, Aberdeen, Beaconsfield, Belfast, Bristol, Canterbury, Darlington, Glasgow, Harrogate, Manchester, Newbury, Newcastle and Norwich.