A Scottish garden furniture and pet store has been sold out of administration.
The company had revenues of £12 million and historically operated profitably before a dramatic turn of misfortune pushed it into administration.
Administrators BDO said that the Livingston-based M8 Group Limited, parent company for ecommerce retailers Greenfingers and PetPlanet, selling garden furniture and pet products, was hit by cyber attack last year.
It had also seen a decrease in sales following an earlier boost from the coronavirus pandemic.
James Stephen, joint administrator, said: “Under the insurance policy, specialists were engaged to try to rebuild and secure the data but this was only partially successful.
“The directors declined to pay the large ransom demands.”
The firm sold garden furniture. (Image: Getty Images)
Most of the £500,000 insurance claim was received in 2025 and “customer data and history which was lost as a result of the attack made restoring revenue difficult”.
A pre-pack sale process was held with two potential purchasers identified.
The intellectual property and brands were sold for £55,000 to Skye Portfolio Limited, an entity under the control of Richard Scott Torrens, who was a director and shareholder of M8.
M8 and PetPlanet was launched in 1999 and said to have become “a trusted destination for everything pets need”.
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Mr Stephen also said: “The sale to the purchaser has achieved a higher value for the business and certain assets than anticipated if the group was first wound up.
“In a liquidation scenario, trading would have ceased immediately, resulting in the loss of customer continuity, the cancellation of live orders, and rapid deterioration in the value of stock.
“The group’s IP and brand assets would also have realised lower sums if sold piecemeal or in isolation from the trading platform.”
Insight
Administration papers give an insight into the process.
The administrators said stock of £198,000 was excluded from the purchase but that this would be sold by the purchaser with half being retained and “the net return available to creditors will be enhanced compared to alternative disposal strategies”.
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The administrators also said: “The purchaser will account to us on a weekly basis regarding the sales and provide updated stock lists detailing the stock being sold.
“The equal split of the proceeds accounts for the time and expense incurred by the purchaser.”
I also recounted the story this week of how a Scottish kitchen company collapsed into administration.
The firm ceased trading after 25 years and this came in the wake of “detrimental supply chain issues”.
All jobs lost
All 18 staff were made redundant.
Appliance supplier and installer Merchant City Distributors Limited directors appointed administrators as “the only option”.
This news comes as new statistics out on Friday showed that, in March 2026, there were 131 company insolvencies registered in Scotland, 11% higher than the number in March 2025.
The rise in insolvencies is being driven by a growing tax burden and global pressuers, and with neither showing signs of easing, more businesses are likely to follow, according to Giuseppe Parla, restructuring and insolvency director at Menzies LLP, who said: “Ongoing tensions in the Middle East are driving up energy and fuel costs, disrupting supply chains.
“The UK economy is expected to be among the most exposed in the developed world – yet much of this impact has not yet filtered through to company balance sheets or the latest insolvency data. Compounding this, the new tax year has brought a fresh wave of cost pressures.”
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