Loo brush firm may be flushed away in tax fight

Customs officials claim company owes £114,000 and should be liquidated

The Kinross-shire firm behind a revolutionary toilet brush is facing collapse over claims it owes more than £100,000 to the taxman.

Officials from HM Revenue and Customs have raised an action against Spyglass Innovations at Perth Sheriff Court.

Two years ago, the company secured £75,000 from a Scottish business fund to help develop its innovative Looblade, a radical new brush design that promised to transform the way people clean their toilets.

Now the firm, fronted by entrepreneur Garry Stewart, faces liquidation over years of outstanding VAT payments and penalties.

According to papers lodged with the court, the company owes more than £114,600.

Tax officers sent a letter to its Kinross base in mid-September, warning that unless debts were paid within seven days further action would be taken.

Revenue and Customs is now calling on the court to formally have the company wound up and an interim liquidator appointed.

Despite repeated requests from The Courier, no one from Spyglass Innovations was available to comment. Customs officials say the company, which has assets worth around £37,000, has been amassing debts since 2014, the year it was incorporated.

Spyglass initially sought investment for its toilet brush design through a kickstarter campaign, with a target of raising £20,000.

Within two years, the crowdfunding initiative had attracted more than 1,350 backers, pledging more than £51,000.

In December 2016, the firm celebrated a £75,000 award from Scottish Edge, a fund which aims to identify and support fledgling businesses.

The brush differs from more traditional toilet cleaners by doing away with bog-standard bristles, which inventors claim makes it more hygienic.

Additional anti-microbial additives are applied to the silicon brushes and are said to kill 99.9% of germs before and after cleaning.

The company’s website is still active and is selling the arctic white version of Looblade for a reduced price of £29.95.

The website shows reviews from satisfied customers from as far afield as Germany, Switzerland, Florida and Latvia.

Garry Stewart’s Looblade business was buoyed by crowdfunding backers.