Coolpink founder on its collapse

THE founder of collapsed creative agency Coolpink has told how he spent 12 months trying to keep the business going before it went into liquidation this week.

The Leeds-based creative and digital marketing business, which employed 12 people, was founded more than a decade ago by managing director Mark Bower.

It ceased trading before Christmas and was put into voluntary liquidation following a creditors’ meeting on Monday when liquidator John Twizell of Geoffrey Martin & Co said there were 12 potential buyers for the assets of the business.

Coolpink’s demise was linked to its biggest client, furniture retailer DFS, moving all its work away from the agency and in house.

Prior to its collapse, the agency had annual turnover of around £1m and clients including Asda, Wren Kitchens, Bensons for Beds, paint group PPG and cooker manufacturer Smeg.

Mr Bower said he is not involved with any of the potential buyers.

“The business had been struggling for a little while. Two years ago we had our best year with £2.7m turnover and £650,000 net profit and we had more than 30 staff,” he said.

“We were on an upward trajectory and then within a few months we lost two or three clients representing about £1m of billings, we had to make redundancies, it was a terrible time.

“We never really recovered from that and spent two years scrabbling around trying to put things right. The management team struggled to cope.”

A year ago the business secured a £450,000 loan from Finance Yorkshire.

Mr Bower said: “The cash from Finance Yorkshire was a real shot in the arm to the business to allow it to drive forward with growth. Then the rest of our DFS work, which was really propping the business up, fell by the wayside. They took business worth £60,000 to £70,000 a month to us in house.

“That meant we were losing money and we didn’t have any opportunity to replace that lost revenue and the decision was made that we needed to close the doors while there was some cash in the bank.

“The staff all got paid in December, that was as much as I could do for everybody,” added Mr Bower.