£250k loss for duchess’s brother as marshmallow dream sours
HE had hoped to bounce back from previous business failures by expanding into marshmallows.
But James Middleton’s sweet dreams appear to have gone a little sour after his latest venture posted trading l osses of £243,986.
The younger brother of Kate Middleton is co-director of Boomf – which sells personalised marshmallows with photographs or messages printed on them.
In May, the company posted a picture of a marshmallow with the words ‘It’s a girl!’ after his sister, 33, gave birth to Princess Charlotte.
But it seems there is little to celebrate in the first set of accounts, which cover the period from November 2013 to December 31, 2014. Despite trading losses of almost £250,000 Boomf is not in the red as it has raised £1million from investors, including Mr Middleton himself, The Sun reported.
It has £756,114 for future trading. The accounts do not disclose turnover or pay to Mr Middleton, 28. A spokesman for Boomf, which sells a typical box of nine marshmallows for £15, said: ‘We are a business still in our infancy, so this [net loss] is to be expected and is in accordance with our business plan.
‘We are on a good path to growth and profitability. Boomf is on track to quadruple our revenues this year.’
The entrepreneur appears keen to follow in the footsteps of his successful parents Carole and Michael, but has not had much luck since starting up on his own.
Earlier this year, two of his cake-making companies and the wine retailer Nice Wines Limited were dissolved at Companies House. The firms’ parent company, Nice Group London, is £23,352 in the red.
Accounts report that its bank overdraft is ‘secured by a member of the director’s family’. After dropping out of Edinburgh University, the entrepreneur started his business career with the help of an £11,000 loan from his ‘black sheep’ uncle Gary Goldsmith. He planned to provide upmarket cake kits for people too busy to bake from scratch and sold the products through Party Pieces, the mail-order website owned by his parents.
Mr Middleton, who is dating TV presenter Donna Air, 36, is understood to live in a flat in Chelsea, London, bought by his parents for £780,000 in 2002.