Weight loss organisation Scottish Slimmers, which operates in 140 locations around the country, has gone into liquidation.
The company, who ceased trading as of midnight on Friday, said that refunds “cannot be provided” to customers who have already paid up front for memberships – and all classes have been cancelled with immediate effect.
Thirty members of staff, including coaches across the class network, will be affected by the closure.
A statement released on behalf of the firm read: “Scottish Slimmers (2009) Ltd has ceased trading with effect from midnight on Friday March 29 2019.
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“A directors’ petition to appoint a liquidator, with a view to appointing Blair Milne, restructuring partner based in Campbell Dallas’ Glasgow office, was lodged today (Monday April 1 2019).
“Thirty members of staff, including those in headquarters and coaches across the class network, are affected by this.
“Scottish Slimmers (2009) Ltd ran the network of 140 Scottish Slimmers classes across Scotland. All Scottish Slimmers classes have now been suspended, and refunds on membership passes cannot be provided.
“However, all existing members affected by this action will be given free access to the Scottish Slimmers online service and digital service which are run by companies unaffected by the liquidation. Members can request access to the online service by hello@uk-slimmers.co.uk.”
Amanda Boyle, chief executive of Scottish Slimmers, said: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision to make as I know how much the network of classes means to our members and how our community of members has valued the support of their class coaches in their healthy living and weight loss programmes.
“Many of our coaches have years of enthusiastic and loyal service and I understand that this decision is a very difficult one for them.”
She said it was intended that a social enterprise company would be created to continue running the classes, with all profits returned to the firm.
Ms Boyle added: “I took on the business just over a year ago in February 2018. Since then, it has become increasingly clear that legacy issues around the financial model for the company mean that the structure of the class network is unsustainable.
“We have found ourselves unable to rely on previous reporting and company data. Despite an encouraging start to 2019, it has become impossible to sustain a model where the costs of running the class network are twice the level of the annual revenue generated by these classes.
“We are not alone in facing a significant decline in members who want a class environment – this is being experienced across the sector.”
