Middletons’ party firm saved by buyer after ballooning debt forced it into administration

CAROLE and Michael Middleton’s party goods business has been sold after going into administration.

Party Pieces, which was founded in 1987 by the Princess of Wales’s parents, was bought by a company that sells teddy-bear making kits.

The 12 staff at the Berkshire-based firm were told yesterday about the buyout, which comes after months of speculation about the company’s future.

Party Pieces Holdings, the parent company of the firm that once employed the Princess, had racked up a deficit of £1.35million and the Middletons failed to find new investors or a buyer willing to take on the company with the entirety of the debt.

Instead, the firm was bought by Teddy Tastic Bear, one of several businesses owned by entrepreneur James Sinclair, through a device known as a pre-pack administration.

Under a pre-pack administration, a prospective buyer agrees to buy an insolvent company provided it goes into administration first. This enables the buyer to come to an arrangement with creditors, who may receive less than they are owed, without the company having to be liquidated.

The administrators, Will Wright and Chris Pole of the consultancy Interpath Advisory, must report to Companies House within eight weeks detailing the company’s debts.

The success of Party Pieces enabled the Middletons to move from the Victorian semi-detached home where the Princess was born to a larger property, and eventually to a Grade II listed Georgian manor house in Bucklebury, which they bought for £4.7million in 2012. But the business suffered as parties were banned during the pandemic lockdowns, and it became insolvent.

In an attempt to expand into America, the company struck a deal with the US supermarket chain Saker Shoprite for it to sell Party Pieces-branded goods. But the move failed to turn around the firm’s fortunes, and two of its three investors resigned as directors earlier this year.

The Middletons then hired Interpath in March.

Mr Sinclair is the founder and chief executive of the Partyman Group of companies, which includes a family farm park, a day nursery, soft play areas and Teddy Tastic, which sells teddy-bear making kits. He also owns Rossi Ice Cream.

Furthermore, he runs two-day “business masterclass” events, hosts a podcast and writes books on how to run successful businesses.

The Middletons have not commented on the sale.