64 Saturday December 18 2021 | the times
Business
An upmarket online fresh food grocer
that was started by a former Morgan
Stanley stockbroker has closed, leaving
its customers short of turkey and other
Christmas products.
Farmdrop, which boasted of its
ethically sourced goods and attracted
millennials, told its 10,000 customers
yesterday that it had struggled for the
past 18 months to secure “the support
and capital we need to continue”.
“As of yesterday it has become appar-
ent we have exhausted all possible op-
tions,” it said in an email. “It is with very
heavy hearts that we must let you know
that we will no longer be able to serve
our cherished customers.” Thursday
was the last day it delivered.
“If you have paid for an order with us,
we would recommend getting in touch
with your bank or card supplier to initi-
ate a chargeback,” it added.
The business has logged a notice of
intention to appoint administrators at
the High Court, which is usually a
precursor to an insolvency after it failed
to raise the emergency cash.
In its most recent accounts the com-
pany reported losses of £8.6 million in
2020, after making £10.8 million losses
the previous year.
Farmdrop, founded in 2012 by Ben
Pugh, was also backed by investors in-
cluding the Duke of Westminster and
Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Sky-
pe. The online supplier was styled as a
locally sourced, organic and sustain-
able grocery provider, which followed
“environmentally and socially respon-
sible farming systems”. Based in north
London, the company provided farm-
to-table foods for consumers around
the capital. But by buying directly from
farmers the business has been hit by the
sector’s shortages of workers, including
HGV drivers, as well as inflation, whichhas driven up the price of energy, feed
and fertiliser.
Nicola Simons, of the independent
food store the Single Variety Co, shared
a video on Thursday detailing how
Farmdrop owed the company “overHamzah Khalique-Loonat
House prices
to ‘hit highs
in new year’
Potential homebuyers who were hop-
ing prices would fall in the new year will
be disappointed, one of Britain’s biggest
mortgage lenders has predicted.
Halifax forecasts that house prices
will rise to fresh record highs in 2022,
although its analysts expect that the
pace of growth will slow “considerably”.
The average house price in the UK
has risen 8 per cent so far in 2021 to
about £273,000 — the dearest ever, ac-
cording to the bank, and nearly £21,000
more than a year ago. That followed a
6 per cent rise in house prices last year.
Halifax estimates that the average
house in the UK is now worth £34,000
more than at the onset of the pandemic.
First-time buyers have been hit the
hardest, the lender says. Properties sold
to them have gone up in price by more
than 9 per cent over the past year.
The market has been fuelled by a
“race for space” as people, confined to
their homes during lockdowns, have
sought bigger houses.
Halifax is forecasting that prices will
rise by about 1 per cent next year. “With
the prospect that interest rates may rise
further in 2022 to subdue rising infla-
tion, and with government support
measures phased out, greater pressure
on household budgets suggests house
price growth will slow considerably,”
Russell Galley, managing director at
Halifax, said.Tom Howard£2,000 in unpaid invoices dating back
to August”, and how her firm had sent
more than 30 emails to Farmdrop with-
out a response.
Yesterday the Farmdrop website
continued to show how customers
could edit their Christmas orders
although the site was later frozen.
In 2019 it fell foul of Transport for
London’s ban on junk food advertising
as it banned Farmdrop’s advert showing
images of fresh bacon, eggs and butter,
which it said did not comply with its
guidelines for fat, salt and sugar.h a c m 6 h mThe business was started in 2012 by
Ben Pugh, above, who saw a market
for farm-to-table produce in LondonMIKAEL BUCK/REX/SHUTTERSTOCKFarmdrop flop puts customers in pickle