Phew - At long last Little Brew is shut down by the Government.

Little Brew raised £110k back in 2013 on Crowdcube. Its last filed accounts were for YE Sept 2014. So you can imagine it will come as some relief to Crowdcube investors that they can at last claim their loss relief 3 years late. 

Its a typical Crowdcube story. Great enthusiast Stuart Small, liked beer. He saw all these other beer enthusiasts raising money on Crowdcube and eureka, he invented Little Brew. He had no experience in brewing or business but then in 2013 on Crowdcube you couldnt get through half a pint before you had been given £100k. Of course all of this was and still is, orchestrated by the promotion of magic bean like profits and ROI. 

The fact that the company has been trying to close down for 4 years is something of an oddity. Is that a record? Eventually HMRC have stepped in and closed it will be on 18 June 2018. 

Thank god that's over. 

Little Brew - an investor's nightmare

Little Brew's headstone has been waiting for 2 whole years to be inscribed. Yet for some reason the closure notices keep coming and keep being suspended. 

Little Brew raised money on Crowdcube in 2013. It was yet another me too craft brewer taking advantage of the easy money on the platform.

No accounts for the company have been filed after YE Sept14. It has been waiting to close for 2 whole years and whilst it remains technically open, Crowcube investors are unable to claim their loss relief. 

Crowdcube have offered little help - why would they they are not paid by investors. 

Crowdcube - watching a train wreck in slow motion.

We were sent this from Crowdcube's website - it pretty well sums up their value to the world...... We especially liked the references to this site as the place to find the real information!! Little Brew is still not closed. In light of the very recent Shaw Academy fiasco, we wonder if Crowdcube are now employing the sons and daughters of their interns.

From the CC discussion board about Little Brew...

 

EIS loss relief

lalsarin 3 months ago

9 Replies

Hello,

In the investor update in March 2016, Stu sadly confirmed that he was selling all of the brewing kit and would be evaluating the future of the business. A decision about this was to be made "several months". I have respectfully stayed silent waiting for a future announcement.

However, I have heard nothing in the last 16+ months. I do note that the company's accounts are over one year overdue. Can Stu either confirm that the company is to be wound up - which would allow loyal investors to claim loss relief from HMRC - or put out his plan of what is happening with the business?

While I am sympathetic to the struggles of the business and the stress that this brings, leaving this in limbo has simply mean that no one is able to move on. Investors have entrusted Stu with their money, and without his action cannot claim the loss relief that we are due. Please can we have a response asap.

R

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lalsarin 3 months ago 

FYI, my emails to Stu have bounced and seem to be not in service. Perhaps Crowdcube staff could comment on this please?

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lalsarin 3 months ago 

For any other investors interested, Crowdcube are investigating. They are going to contact Stu and find it it where things stand. I'll update when I hear more.

R

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mtmale 1 month ago 

Any news?

I see that the compulsory strike-offs at Companies House were suspended in May 2017. If there is still some value to be had here, then let's hear about it

A bit of communication and corporate governance wouldn't go amiss

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lalsarin 1 month ago 

In a nutshell:
I emailed Crowdcube saying that the website and Stu's email were down. They replied saying that because the website and email were down, they couldn't get hold of him....

I then replied suggesting that they tried another method of communication, such as phoning him (surely they have his number?!), writing to him (his address is listed on companies house) or through social media (he has a LinkedIn account).

On 15 September Crowdcube replied saying that they have tried multiple methods of communication in the past but will try again. I have heard nothing back and have low confidence that CC will hear back or help investors by forcing through a wind-up or agreement of zero value with HMRC. Other crowdfunding models, with other investor structures, would be much more active in this.

Options for us now are:

1. Do nothing and wait.
2. Try to contact Stu directly. I will have a go at this when I come to do my tax return later in the year.
3. Agree with HMRC that the shares have negligible value, as allowed in EIS rules, and claim the loss relief.

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mtmale 1 month ago 

Thanks for your efforts. If you do manage to track him down, please let us know as he may be more prepared to 'engage' if he is contacted by a number of shareholders.

I quite agree re other crowdfunding models. I have stopped actively investing on here as the lack of portfolio management, communication and general corporate governance is too frustrating. Caveat emptor!

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lalsarin 1 month ago 

Mtmale, I'm exactly the same - I've stopped investing on this platform all together after a corporate governance disaster here ended in a successful criminal prosecution... I thought that was a bad once off, but then I started reading Rob Murray Brown's blog about this site...

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jcricket 3 weeks ago 

Same here. Quantock Breweries is also an interesting case...

http://fantasyequitycrowdfunding.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/does-equity-crowdfunding-encourage.html

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jimbob2 18 minutes ago 

Hi,

From a past experience where I had an unlisted investment that went wrong, with a complete lack of information, I claimed for it to be of negligible value by briefly explaining the circumstances on my tax return and it went through fine. Bear in mind that if any future value arises (albeit unlikely) this then has to be declared to them.

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jcricket 53 seconds ago 

Interesting. Thanks Jimbob. Just a shame that Stu appears to have given up without wrapping up.

As we predicted Crowdcube's Little Brew has ceased trading but do Crowdcube know about it?

Only a few days ago we wrote about Little Brew - we now have confirmation that the company has ceased trading although it has not yet technically closed. 

This collapse happened back in March this year and one has to wonder if Crowdcube knew about it? If they did then where was the announcement? There wasnt one - just the usual PRing about how great they are.Was this failure included in their summer £8m funding prospectus? If not surely that is contrary to FCA regulations? 

Simply put, this business never stood a chance; like so many that fund on Crowdcube. The founder admits as much by telling shareholders the model didnt work. No doubt it was not for effort or diligence - it was just not well enough funded and could never gain any traction in an overcrowded niche market. He couldnt make a living out of it and so had no choice but to cease operations. What will follow will eventually be a final striking off by CH - the first gazette is already actioned. In the end Little Brew did less than the name suggests. 

How many times do we need to see this happen before the FCA takes some action? Its now two Crowdcube closures this month already and we expect many more. 

Our thanks go to the shaerholder who provided this information.