Former No10 aide’s start-up embarks on hunt for buyer

A SHARED office space company founded by former Downing Street adviser Rohan Silva is on the hunt for a buyer amid uncertainty over its future.

Second Home, which was cofounded by the ex-aide to David Cameron, is understood to have kicked off an accelerated sales process as a “plan B” option if it is unable to close an emergency cash injection.

The process at the company was first reported by City AM, and comes weeks after it began work to raise £6m in emergency cash to stave off a collapse. At the time, Sky News reported that Second Home had hired FRP Advisory, the restructuring and insolvency firm.

Sources close to Second Home said the company was now inviting bids from potential buyers, even after it received multiple funding offers from existing investors in recent weeks.

Second Home is not yet profitable and in recent years has struggled with sky-high administrative fees. Last July its accounts showed it had breached its debt covenant, although it received a waiver from its main lender. In April this year, it said it would need further waivers from the bank, or would have to find alternative sources of finance. It has since begun fundraising efforts.

A source at Second Home said it had experienced “a record year for demand and growth, [and was] seeing an impressive bounceback after our sector was hit hard by the pandemic”.

The source added: “Despite this growth, and despite having funding proposals on the table, it’s the prudent and responsible thing to run this process in parallel.”