Court winds up fine wine company as customers left unpaid

Fine wine seller Aston Lovell has been forced to wind up its business after a High Court judge deemed it unable to pay its debts, db can reveal, with customers saying they have been left in the dark about when they might see their money. 

The business, which was registered in North Chingford in London, was wound down last week by the High Court Business and Property Court in Birmingham Insolvency and Companies list, according to documents filed at Companies House. The petition to wind down was brought by one of Aston Lovell’s creditors, Erich Christodoulou, with the judge making his decision on 4 December.

According to the micro-company’s latest accounts, the company had net liabilities of £56,150 in the year to 31 May 2022, up from liabilities of £54,352 the previous year. Although current assets were recorded as £314,557 (down from £305,436 in 2021) creditors amounts falling due within one year were recorded at £358,884, slightly below the £365,817 recorded in 2021.

This shows a marked reversal of fortunes since 2019, when current assets were recorded as £570,242, and net assets/capital and reserves were £454,439 in 2019. This fell in the year to 2020 to £165,860 current assets, or £23,184 once creditor amounts falling within one year of £152,961, were taken into account.

The 2021 accounts also show that the company had forwarded advances worth more than £100,000 to two of its directors at the time: £75,302 to Bruce Aston, and £26,411 to Mark Hall – although there is no reference to these in the 2023 accounts.

Aston, who set up the business in 2006 and launched the fine wine platform in 2013, resigned as a company director in July 2022. Mark Hall, who is still listed as a director of the company and who db has approached for comment, was appointed  in October 2020, when company secretary Ben Lovell resigned.

A Facebook group of Aston Lovell’s customers who claim that they have either not been paid for wines they’ve sold or have not received wine they’ve bought was set up in June, and now numbers 84 people. The administrator of the group has calculated that around £66,000 has not been paid to customers who have sold their wines, with a further £400,000 of wine still unaccounted for – although he said that the total figure “could be higher”, given that only takes into account around 30 people who had filled out forms detailing their losses at the time of writing. db has been unable to verify all the claims.

Several customers have also commented on their experiences on various wine forums  and Trustpilot. One customer said in October that he had dealt with Aston Lovell since 2014 “and everything was fine until about two years ago”, but that the website had been taken down and the company was not responding to phone calls or emails. Another, commenting as early as April 2023, said she had resorted to legal action after her wines were collected for sale, but no payment was made.

The drinks business has approached Mark Hall and the liquidator appointed by the court for comment.