Is the party over for Kate’s fashion queen?
She was the hottest name in fashion — and the Middletons (and, God forbid, Kim Kardashian) are still devotees. So what’s going wrong for Alice Temperley?
could go to the wall. ‘It would be entirely fair to say that this is a flashing amber light,’ said one leading accountant.
‘When the auditors insert this type of warning, it is very important and indicates serious concern. It shows there is a very real uncertainty over whether the business can continue, or will it go under.’
The company insists things have improved since then. It said the figures for 2014 are ‘nearly two years old’ and are ‘no longer relevant to current operations’.
‘Temperley London’s business continues to develop strongly on the back of a newly focused strategy, delivering double- digit order book increases in sales during each of the last four seasons,’ it added.
‘We have raised over £2 million in new capital over the past 18 months to continue funding our transformation and expansion.’
The company says it has seen a significant improvement in sales and profitability since the 2014 accounts were filed.
But the accounts show the firm is heavily indebted, with just under £6 million of short-term borrowings. These included £1.2 million owed to suppliers and other trade creditors, plus nearly £950,000 in bank overdrafts.
On top of that, there are ‘debenture loans’ — a type of IOU — amounting to just under £2 million, that fall due for repayment in July this year.
When asked whether the company was in a position to pay up at that date, a spokesman replied that the IOUs are from shareholders and are ‘extendable at any time’.
Temperley Holdings has secured backing from investors. It raised £2.6 million from shareholders — a group of rich individuals and family trusts — in 2014, plus further injections of capital of £1.3 million over the following two years.
A spokesman said the firm did not envisage having to tap its backers for more funds, but it is not clear they would be willing to stump up if it turned out the company did need to pass round the hat again.
Alice’s financial woes do not end there. Despite lavish descriptions on the Savills website and Cricket Court’s proximity to swanky private schools including Sherborne and Millfield, if it goes for £2 million it will be a £250,000 loss for Alice and Lars.
Not that she is out on the street. These days, she is ensconced in a six- bedroom Notting Hill villa, which she shares with the new man in her life, photographer Greg Williams, 43, and his two children from a previous relationship, along with her son Fox, now seven.
Her love life may be back on track and plans have been put in place to improve the business.
A five-year strategy was drawn up in 2013 to turn Temperley from a fashion label into a lifestyle brand, with talk of transforming it into a British version of U.S. luxury group Ralph Lauren.
However, one of the main architects of that plan, former chief executive Ulrik Garde Due, a seasoned Danish-born expert, has left. A spokesman says the company has rebuilt the entire senior management team with experienced industry veterans.
The Middletons, the Kardashians and other admirers will no doubt be hoping that the ethereal dress designer will finally pull her business into solid profit.
Turning her company (Alice holds 11 per cent of the shares in Temperley Holdings) around is a task so big, however, it cannot simply be swept underneath one of the Persian carpets that are strewn over the hardwood floors of the home she is trying to sell.