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The jewellery industry public relations firm Facets PR, set up by former Retail Jeweller editor Sarah Carpin, has gone into voluntary liquidation owing almost £190,000.
A Statement of Affairs published on Companies House showed Facets Communications Limited – the company’s legal name – had appointed a voluntary liquidator, affirming speculation that it was in trouble after its phone number and website went offline in July.
The statement shows Carpin’s firm as owing over £51,000 to employees in redundancy and notice pay, and also £6,715 in employee arrears and holiday pay.
It also owes over £85,000 to trade and expense creditors, over £28,000 in PAYE, and £25,000 in corporation tax.
Facets, which originated as a spinoff agency within the Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ), was set up by Carpin in 2011 as CMJ Media, but later rebranded to Facets PR.
It was jettisoned by the CMJ and taken under Carpin’s ownership in 2017 after a poor financial performance at the CMJ, and the sudden departure of its CEO, Willie Hamilton, prompted a review of the buying group’s ancillary services from which several divestments eventually followed.
Carpin was a regular speaker at the UK’s major trade shows in her capacity as director of the company, and among those who worked for her was Kathryn Bishop, former editor of Professional Jeweller.
Another PR agency, W Communications acquired an undisclosed minority stake in Facets PR in 2017, now revealed in the liquidation documents to have been a 10% share. According to Companies House, founder Warren Johnson’s appointment as a director of Facets Communications Limited was terminated on 29 August.
