Luxury lingerie company La Perla is going to be wound up after it failed to pay a £2.8m tax bill to UK tax authorities
HMRC went to the High Court requesting a winding up petition over the unpaid tax bill. The Judge allowed the request, which centred around an unpaid tax bill totalling £2.8m, leading to the closure of the company’s UK operation, La Perla Global Management (UK) Limited.
At the hearing, the company’s lawyer said that the tax payment had been postponed as a shareholder’s cash injection had not gone ahead as expected.
In the UK, Perla is based in Savile Row, and is a designer, manufacturer and seller of high end luxury lingerie, nightwear and beachwear. It has several high street shops in London and the southeast, and department store concessions, as well as an ecommerce operation. The company’s design and production facilities are located in Bologna, Italy.
The owner of La Perla brand, La Perla Global Management is 10 months overdue filing accounts at Companies House, with the last filing made in October 2021 for year end December 2020.
At the time, the company reported turnover of €66m (£57m) against losses of €125m (£109m) for the year. VAT and other taxes payable for the period totalled €2.77m (£2.42m). The accounts also showed that during the pandemic Perla was given £300,000 in business rates relief and claimed £200,000 in furlough support through the coronavirus job retention scheme.
In the annual accounts, it also reported a €325m debt facility from its owner, Tennor Holdings BV, but noted that the financial support from Tennor gave it confidence that the company could continue trading. Tennor is controlled by majority beneficial owner Lars Windhorst, who is the sole director of the UK operation.
Tennor is an investment holding company registered in the Netherlands with offices in London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Zurich.
The company and its subsidiaries are audited by Crowe, which earned £420,000 in audit fees for YE20.