On 11th October 2022, the UK’s largest online vegan supermarket, The Vegan Kind, filed for administration due to ongoing losses. However, it would continue trading as the largest stakeholder bought the company soon after. Recovery firm Interpath Advisory was appointed as administrator, and joint administrators Alistair McAlinden and Blair Nimmo immediately sold the business and assets to Lillie SPV Ltd in a pre-pack transaction. Lillie SPV is controlled by Literacy Capital, which was the majority owner of The Vegan Kind.
Tony Buffin, representing the company, said, “Unfortunately, The Vegan Kind was placed into administration on 11th of October owing to ongoing losses which could not be sustained with the current business model without additional funding. However, the assets and business were immediately bought out of administration by the largest shareholder and the business continues to trade as normal. We understand that the new shareholder’s intention is to find a partner to share in the ongoing operating costs of the business. This should provide a long-term sustainable future for The Vegan Kind enabling it to continue to serve plant-based consumers nationwide with the widest range of products available anywhere in the UK. Clearly, this is a challenging time for employees. The new shareholders are, however, doing everything they can to find new or alternative roles for existing employees to support the new Vegan Kind business in the future.”
Launched by Scott McCullouch and Karris McCullouch in 2013, the supermarket became the biggest vegan online retailer in the UK stoking more than 5000 vegan products, and it also has a vegan subscription box service shipped to almost 10,000 monthly customers. In 2020 the company relocated to a new 35,000 sq ft warehouse and created 21 new jobs. On 13th June 2022, both founders stepped down from their CEO and Managing Director positions and handed the company over to Sarah Boddy who became the new CEO.
