Michael Acton Smith's Firebox.com holding company enters creditors' voluntary liquidation

Michael Acton Smith, who co-founded Firebox.com at the turn of the millennium before going on to launch the Calm meditation app, is among the former directors linked to Firebox.com Holdings Limited, the holding company that has now entered creditors' voluntary liquidation.

Michael Jenkins, holding IP number 20114, and David Adam Broadbent, holding IP number 9458, both of BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP, have been appointed joint liquidators. A creditors' voluntary liquidation, or CVL, is a formal insolvency process in which a company's shareholders resolve to wind it up voluntarily because it cannot pay its debts; licensed insolvency practitioners are then appointed to realise assets and distribute proceeds to creditors. The Gazette published a prohibited name notice on 21 May 2026.

The company's registered office is at 11 Clifton Moor Business Village, James Nicolson Link, Clifton Moor, York, YO30 4XG, which is also the address of the liquidators' firm. Firebox.com Holdings was incorporated on 24 July 2000, originally under the name Winshare Public Limited Company, before becoming Firebox.com Holdings PLC on 23 August 2000. It converted to a private limited company structure in April 2021. Its SIC code classifies it under retail sale via mail order houses or via the internet.

The officers

The sole director at the time of the notice is Philipp Hanns Schindler, resident in Austria, who was appointed on 17 May 2021. Smith resigned as a director on the same date, having served since 1 August 2000. Thomas James Boardman also resigned on 17 May 2021 after more than two decades on the board. Alison Sakai, who had served as company secretary since July 2009, resigned on 24 March 2026.

Background

Firebox.com launched in the early dotcom era as an online novelty and gifts retailer, building a following through its irreverent product selection. Smith co-founded the business before later establishing Calm, the mental wellness and meditation app that became one of the most downloaded apps globally. He left the Firebox.com Holdings board in May 2021, around the time the company restructured its directorship. The operating entity, Firebox.com Limited, also appeared in April 2026 liquidation notices published by Credit Connect, suggesting both the trading company and its holding vehicle entered CVL around the same period.

For creditors and customers

Once joint liquidators are appointed in a CVL, they take control of the company's affairs and write to known creditors in due course. Correspondence is handled through BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP at the Clifton Moor address.

Creditors wishing to evidence the amounts they are owed do so by submitting a proof of debt, which is the formal claim form used in insolvency proceedings to establish a creditor's entitlement to a share of any realisations.

A moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986 applies in administration rather than liquidation. In a CVL, the liquidators assume control of all asset realisation and creditor communications from the point of appointment, and creditor enforcement is generally stayed once a winding-up resolution is passed.

Customers who paid for goods that were never delivered, or who hold gift cards or deposits, rank as unsecured creditors in a CVL. Unsecured creditors are those whose debts are not backed by a charge over company assets; they are paid from whatever funds remain after secured and preferential creditors have been satisfied.

Employees with claims for unpaid wages, notice pay or redundancy are treated as preferential creditors for certain amounts. Where the company's assets are insufficient to meet those claims in full, the Redundancy Payments Service exists to handle statutory payments to eligible employees, funded by the National Insurance Fund.