Some impartial retailers have reported being owed cash for his or her gross sales via the Trouva platform, which was acquired by GCG Capital in a pre-pack administration from Discovered FY in late February 2025. Some have stopped working with Trouva till they’re remunerated.
The newest joint directors’ report, seen by Drapers, covers Discovered FY’s possession and was signed 7 March. It exhibits that unsecured collectors, which incorporates indies, are owed £954,000 and can obtain no cost again.
Based in 2015, Trouva operates a market mannequin, which means that retailers ship on to customers whose cost is acquired by Trouva, which takes a fee of round 25% plus VAT earlier than cost is given.
In a latest electronic mail to at least one retailer proprietor who has paused enterprise with the platform, seen by Drapers, Trouva said that it had gone “via an insolvency course of on the finish of January, and all staff had been placed on maintain as nicely”.
In electronic mail despatched to all boutiques buying and selling on Trouva on 16 April, Trouva’s new managing director, Zoe Cazaubon, stated any missed funds “relate to the earlier possession”.
“As a part of the acquisition, these liabilities didn’t switch to the brand new firm,” it continued. “Whereas we’re not legally accountable for funds previous to acquisition [in late February 2025], we’re not brushing them off, both. We all know how critical that is. We’re doing the whole lot in our energy to know what’s doable.
“I do know that is irritating, and I share that frustration. Please submit a credit score declare to RSM (the insolvency administrator), who handles excellent money owed.
“We’re exploring each doable method to assist. I received’t make false guarantees, however I can promise that we’re treating this with urgency and respect.”
Earlier than Trouva was acquired by GCG Capital in a pre-pack administration on the finish of February, it had been owned by Discovered FY for little over a 12 months. Earlier than this, it was owned by Streethub, which purchased the enterprise out of the administration of former proprietor Made.com in December 2023.
The newest joint directors’ report, signed by Lee Van Lockwood, restructuring advisory associate, and Gareth Harris, joint head of UK restructuring at RSM Restructuring, additionally confirmed a lack of round £700,000 throughout a nine-month buying and selling interval from March 2024 to November 2024. As of 31 December 2024, Trouva had internet liabilities of round £1.3m.
In September 2024, Trouva stated in an announcement to Drapers that it was “working tirelessly” to resolve months of delays in funds for retailers promoting on its web site. Some retailers had been nonetheless awaiting funds.
Trouva’s web site beforehand said that it companions with greater than 700 bricks-and-mortar boutiques throughout the UK and Europe, nonetheless, this has since been eliminated. Present Trouva CEO Geri Cupi was unable to share the present variety of boutiques buying and selling on the positioning.
Cupi was unable to share present financials for the enterprise, however instructed Drapers it “is just not in monetary problem” and that each one remuneration since this 12 months’s acquisition has been “paid in full”.
The proprietor of 1 impartial, who’s owed a number of thousand kilos, stated he spoke with the brand new managing director on a web-based name final week, and was instructed that the brand new house owners had been unaware of earlier debt and that the brand new proprietor was “exploring all choices”, together with presumably charging a decrease fee to offset the debt.
“However we do not need to promote with them once more,” he stated. The enterprise continues to be owed [several thousand] however has been instructed the previous house owners are chargeable for this.
The proprietor of a menswear impartial that beforehand bought on Trouva instructed Drapers he was owed cash – though he wouldn’t disclose how a lot – from gross sales through the second half of January and the primary week in February of this 12 months, after which he ceased buying and selling on the positioning. He stated he was remunerated in late September for preliminary missed funds regarding 2024.
Two womenswear retailers instructed Drapers they’d stopped working with Trouva following earlier difficulties final 12 months.
Hayley Attridge, proprietor of Blue in Saffron Walden, Essex, stated that her retailer halted enterprise with the net market for 2 months final 12 months following lacking funds, till she was paid in full. Attridge didn’t share this quantity with Drapers.
“They gave me the choice to [work with them again], however I stated no. It is a improbable idea however [these marketplaces] make investments a lot in search engine optimization [search engine optimisation] and it does not repay,” she stated.
Additionally final 12 months, Marisa Davis, proprietor of womenswear impartial Brenda Muir in Glasgow, stated she waited three months for £3,000-£4,000 she was owed, earlier than ceasing commerce on {the marketplace}.
“Everybody thinks on-line makes fortunes nevertheless it’s small margins,” she stated. “I wasn’t making any cash [via Trouva]. All people purchased while you had been on Sale. I used to be shedding cash.”
She stated different on-line marketplaces had contacted her with presents to promote on their platform, which she has declined after her experiences with with Trouva and the now shuttered Atterley Street market, which Davis stated owed her £9,000 when it folded in 2022.
The proprietor of the menswear impartial had a special expertise earlier than Trouva’s monetary difficulties: “The choice of low cost delivery outweighed the excessive fee. We did flip over a number of inventory with them, significantly from Black Friday via to December.
“Legally, they do not must pay us the cash [because of the acquisition], but when they need to hold us on board they should,” he stated.
Cupi instructed Drapers that any funds previous to the acquisition had been “underneath the earlier possession” and that he couldn’t “touch upon issues we do not oversee”.
“We are attempting to get a full understanding of the enterprise,” he stated. “We are going to share plans for the enterprise in future.”
“We’re very enthusiastic about plans for Trouva, however actually can’t say extra,” he concluded.
Drapers additionally reached out to RSM for remark.
