TM Lewin Goes into Administration Again: What does that mean when you're owed money?

Believe me I'm not a huge fan of airing ones dirty laundry in public, but there's a stain on my invoicing that won't wash out. And I've talked to the stain repeatedly and asked, 'Hey stain, what gives? All the other stains have paid up, cleaned up and moved on. What makes you so special that you feel you can hang around and continue being a stain?"

And when that stain refuses to budge after repeated attempts to play nice, sometimes you have to play the stain at its own game. Today that stain is TM Lewin, and they are shirking their payments to me. Why? Under the rouse of administration? Have they gone under? If so how come they were taking on influencers like me to spearhead a campaign earlier in the year knowing they would never have the funds to pay for the work I did. 

Well let me share some correspondence I've had between my management and the team at TM Lewin. Firstly, from my manager:

“Hope all is well - I'm getting in touch on behalf of my client Carl Thompson who is a social media influencer that was engaged by TM Lewin to perform services earlier this year but was never paid.

He is owed a total of £2,100 and sent the proof of debt form via post but I'm not sure if it was ever received so I am sending via email after speaking to a few of your colleagues on the phone. 

Please can you advise us of the next steps and how we are able to get this money paid to him? I've attached the proof of debt form and also the contract for the activity as a supporting document. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.”

And here is the response from the administration team 

 “The business and assets of Trendbold Limited t/a TM Lewin in administration were sold to TM Lewin Shirtmaker Limited on 8 April 2022. Details of the transaction are included in the Joint Administrators’ proposals which can be found here Interpath Advisory - INTERPATH Public Case Information (ia-insolv.com) . However, I can confirm that the incumbent secured lender was the successful purchaser, by way of a credit backed bid.

The Company entered into insolvency on the 17th March 2022. Interpath Advisory were appointed as the administrator with the duty of realising/selling the company’s assets to ensure the best result for the company’s creditors. With the secured creditors being paid in priority.

Unfortunately, the Company is insolvent and currently does not have any funds to pay off existing unsecured creditors. We are currently unaware of any amounts that could potentially paid to unsecured creditors, but we do expect this to be a very small amount (e.g a few pence for each pound owed). The process of calculating this distribution is lengthy and may take a few months.”

What does all that mean? 

Well it means they have a team of people that are keen to push all its debts under the carpet and start a fresh. And look I have every sympathy for high street retailers that struggled through the pandemic. Whether you're a household name with Gary Lineker as an ambassador, or an independent living in his store cupboard to save on overheads. But TM Lewin have already been on that treadmill. They closed down all 150 shops during the pandemic in 2020, went into administration and became a solely e-commerce outfit. 

They have now gone into administration again, wiped their debts, and according to this article in The Guardian, will be making a push to re-enter bricks and mortar. 

“We understand the new owners will be relaunching the online trading platform over the coming weeks and, in the longer term, are considering the possibility of opening new high street stores.” Will Wright, the head of restructuring at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator to TM Lewin

Great news for TM Lewin. But what about all the people that have kept flying the flag for TM Lewin with contracted social media campaigns? People like your good self, who by the way, has an e-commerce shirtmaking store, and ensures he pays his suppliers, his content creators, his SEO team, before he pays himself. Isn't your obligation as part of that administrative sale, to ensure the unsecured creditors were duly paid as part of that transaction? 

Does it not seem wildly convenient to declare insolvency, a month before a purchaser can come in and restore the brand back to its former glory? Twice in two years no less? 

Yes I've kissed goodbye to my £2k, and I'm at peace with that. But I'm not throwing this stained invoice in the shredder without giving it a nice airing first!