Pre-pack administration sale of Shift after debts rack up

In a report to creditors summarising how the business, led by 30-year-old entrepreneur Jacob Corlett, came to suffer the same fate as the parcel delivery firm, Opus Restructuring said the liquidation of a connected company was partially to blame.

It said the company’s trading was negatively impacted by a number of factors, including the failure of SG Platform, which owes Shift £784,000 and of which Corlett is also director.

In addition, the administrator said Shift, which changed its name to JLF Moving Solutions in April this year and offered urgent removal and storage solutions, undertook a project with a business that transpired to be unprofitable and it was also issued with a dilapidations claim from its landlord.

“Subsequent to the failed project and incurring liabilities as a result, the company was unable to meet its liabilities as they were falling due,” it said.

“Alongside trade creditors and a dilapidations claim from the landlord, the company could not meet the liability owing to HMRC of which a time to pay was entered into.

“With the impending liquidation of SG Platform, one of its largest debtors, and subsequent to seeking initial advice on the financial position of the company, the board recognised that the business was insolvent.”

The business entered administration on 22 August but a pre-pack sale to Bespoke Moving Solutions (BMS) was completed on the same day, which Opus said saved all 55 jobs.

Corlett, as well as Shift directors Mark Pearson and Tamara Gregory, are also directors of BMS.

Opus added that the pre-pack sale totalled £336,000, with £100,000 paid up front and seven monthly payments of £39,333 to follow.

In August, Shift, which described itself as an “on-demand delivery service”, said it was pivoting away from offering services directly to consumers and would be focusing on logistics carriers instead, giving them access to thousands of drivers.

It said this would improve earnings for drivers while significantly reducing costs for enterprise businesses with final-leg delivery requirements.