Purplebricks has been served with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
However, the online estate agency says an “admin error” caused the action. It says the issue has now been resolved.
HMRC filed the court petition on Tuesday, according to legal filings.
Meanwhile, Purplebricks said it had already been in discussions with the tax authority. It only learned about the petition after HMRC filed it.
A spokesman for Purplebricks said: “We were surprised by the petition from HMRC. We were in active dialogue on an admin error and only became aware of the filing of the petition once it had been submitted.
“To be clear, our liability for taxes as they are due have been dealt with and the petition is being withdrawn.”
In addition, accountancy firm BK Plus has attributed the issue to an administrative error.
In a letter, it said the “position with HMRC is an administration error and the matter has been resolved”.
Accounts also overdue
However, the petition comes as Purplebricks has yet to file its annual accounts for the year ending March 2025.
The company blamed the delay on the appointment of a new chief financial officer. Nevertheless, it expects to file the accounts in the coming week.
Purplebricks launched in 2012 by brothers Michael and Kenny Bruce with a flat-fee estate agency model.
The business later listed on the London Stock Exchange. At one stage, it achieved a valuation of around £1.3bn.
However, Purplebricks subsequently ran into financial difficulties following its international expansion.
Eventually, Strike acquired the business and its assets for a nominal £1 in 2023.
Entrepreneur Sir Charles Dunstone backs Strike and subsequently became an investor in Purplebricks.
Purplebricks points to turnaround
Despite the latest development, Purplebricks said its new management team remains focused on growing the business.
A spokesman said: “Our new leadership team have made big strides in the turnaround of Purplebricks and we are experiencing growth in all areas of the business.
“We remain fully focused on delivering for our customers and continuing to be the most innovative estate agency business in the UK.”
For its part, HMRC said it only resorts to winding-up petitions after other attempts to recover unpaid tax have failed.
A spokesman said: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we’ve exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.”
Comments (9)
I worked for this company ,drop staff like pistachio shells ,don’t give a crap ,10 of us within weeks ,all the money stays at the top ,where they are milking the investors ,they know it will fail..
Ah… worked for these 2 in Derbyshire a decade or more ago.. the tales I could tell.. every day like an episode of the Office with Laurel and Hardy…
Called these crooks in 2014 to value a flat I’d just renovated. This imbecile turned up & said the value was £25 k
I removed him from property & got two other proper estate agents in who said £56k and £60 k ..
Them purple bricks are con artists
I’ve been warning against these guys since 2017. I sincerely hope this is the end of the tragedy they have visited on their staff, customers and the industry as a whole.
They should have updated the appalling advertising years ago. The commercials never actually got across the Purple Bricks sales process and why using them was so cheap. That was the problem, cheap but effectively PB was just a DIY selling platform with a lousy searchable database piggy-backing off the established players. I wouldn’t have touched them. As for once having a prospective £1 billion valuation … LMAO.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Cruel, but they deserve it.
What a mess !
Well past time (And it could be too late now) this firm’s shareholders put in a management team that was capable of making it a profitable business and restructuring the company so it is a viable business for the future
‘Backers’ or ‘shareholders’ ? If the latter, they needed to have taken financial advice.