Carole and Michael Middleton put their Party Pieces business up for sale after two of their three financial backers pulled out, it has emerged.
Steven Bentwood, chief executive of parent company Party Pieces Holdings since 2019, and investor Darryl Eales resigned as directors in March, according to documents filed this week at Companies House.
It was only after their departure that the Princess of Wales’s parents called in the consultancy Interpath to help them find a buyer for the company they founded in 1987.
Mr Bentwood, who previously built up his own lingerie company, and Mr Eales, a former chairman of Oxford United Football Club, and Erik Anderson, an American millionaire, all invested in Party Pieces when it became a public limited company four years ago. Now, only Mr Anderson remains as a director, together with Mr and Mrs Middleton.
It comes after reports that the Middletons are considering handing over a six-figure sum to a buyer in order to offload the business.
Hopes for Coronation boost
Party Pieces lost £285,000 in 2021, taking its total deficit to £1.35 million, according to publicly available accounts.
A source close to the sale process confirmed that Mr Bentwood and Mr Eales had resigned as directors before Interplan was asked to give advice. The Middletons have asked Interplan to advise them on “options”, which include a sale or finding new investors.
The company is hoping it will receive a major boost from the Coronation – at which the Middletons are expected to be guests – by promoting a range of items for use at street parties.
Sky News reported this week that one of the leading contenders to buy the business is Club Green, one of its rivals, which is also a family-owned business selling party goods.
Potential bidders have been told that Party Pieces has shown “some recent UK performance contraction during international expansion and focus on margins”.
The Middletons are reportedly offering a six-figure “dowry” payment to sweeten any deal, with Sky quoting a source who said they were “trying to do the right thing for the business and its stakeholders”.
End of an era
The sale of Party Pieces would mark the end of an era for the Middleton family, all of whom have been involved in the family firm at various times.
It was started by Carole Middleton, then her husband Michael joined in, with their children Kate, Pippa and James all helping out at its Berkshire headquarters, as well as posing for catalogue and website pictures over the years.
Party Pieces was contacted for comment.
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