Derby digital photography firm owed £23m to creditors when administrators called in

Picsolve, the Derby firm which was sold out of administration last month, saving 600 jobs, had been making an operational loss for almost a decade before administrators from Deloitte were called in, newly released documents have shown.

The firm, which supplied digital photography to theme parks on a worldwide basis, suffered from the coronavirus lockdown with all attractions closing meaning the company’s turnover was reduced to zero. At the same time it failed to secure any external funding and was unable to meet its debt repayments.

The firm employed 607 staff worldwide. Administrators furloughed 594 staff and retained 13 throughout the period of marketing the firm, which was eventually sold to PomVom UK for £650,000.

Administrators from Deloitte have identified that unsecured creditors are owed £23,3m – £19.3m of which in relation to intercompany balances with the rest of the Picsolve group.

A statement from Deloitte said: “At this stage, it is unclear whether there will be sufficient funds to enable a distribution to be made to unsecured creditors. This is dependent on debtor collections and the receipt of deferred consideration from the sale of the business and assets.”