People Tree is due to appoint Opus Restructuring as liquidator to wind up its UK business at a creditors’ meeting tomorrow.

Founded by then wife and husband Safia Minney and James Minney‎ in 1991 in Tokyo, People Tree makes products with tradition skills using Global Organic Textile Standard fabrics certified by the Soil Association. Safia Minney left People Tree in 2015 after separating from her husband and resigned from the board in July.

A letter to creditors shows the company owes more than £8.5m, including £3.7m to other People Tree entities within the group, £1.2m to Safia and James Minney, and more than £273,000 to 14 of its UK staff, most of whom have been made redundant in recent months. The remaining £3.5m is owed to various suppliers – investors as well as customers – who are understood to have been waiting for refund since June.

People Tree has attributed the decision to liquidate the UK business to cashflow issues resulting from the pandemic, the increased cost of business in the European Union following Brexit and the Japanese parent company supporting it with working capital, which was not sustainable.

It is understood that the brand’s Europe and Japan arms will continue to trade as normal.

CEO James Minney said: “Our customers and our wholesale stockists have been and always will be the absolute rock of support for People Tree. Our suppliers and lenders, with whom we have been in close  discussions throughout this difficult time, have been supportive throughout our journey. Our staff, experts and professionals all, have gone the extra mile, again and again.

“I heavily feel my own responsibility for how matters have panned out, and I wish it could have turned out better for all those who gave so much of their money, time, and hearts and souls. I am so sorry, and I am deeply grateful.

“The basic mission of Fair Trade, whether fashion, interiors, handicrafts, foods, or everything else that People Tree does, of honouring peoples’ traditions, hand skills, and the love they pour into the products, and creating sustainable market access and livelihoods, was and is paramount, even though we cannot continue our business in UK. Our amazing and dedicated team in the Japan side is stepping up to do our very best to continue the mission and vision of the company.”