Staff at PR firm Sanity Marketing have expressed sadness at being left out of pocket as the company files for administration.

The director of the Malvern-based company, Jordan Baker, said none of its 25 employees have been paid for the month of July.

A manager of the sales team confirmed this and added his disappointment at how things turned out.

“It is a shame. I think there was massive potential,” he said.

“At the start it was incredible but towards the end it really did not work. It was a massive shame.

“Nobody likes to see a business go wrong, it’s definitely not the best feeling in the world.”

The staff member claims the issues regarding pay had begun earlier than July.

“Pretty much everyone in the business wasn’t paid correctly. There were two months of half pay or delayed pay,” he said.

“Nobody was paid for July. Clients are getting in touch with us but we are in the same position as them, we are not sure where to go from here.

“None of us were selling anything which we didn’t believe in.”

Mr Baker confirms the company had suffered delays in financing earlier in the year and had asked a ‘handful’ of staff members if they could delay paying them some of their wages.

He added ‘for the most part’ second payments were made within hours of the first.

Mr Baker said: “As a reminder, we were in the midst of a lockdown, and we were a 16-month old start-up.

“Our employees joined us understanding the highs and lows of working in a brand-new, exciting and fast-growing company.

“Within this period, we were achieving £1.4 million in annual sales and were poised to fly. Lockdown both made us and killed in within 16-months.

“Being notified with only 24-hours’ notice of the two-month delay of the £300,000 we had raised due to ‘economic uncertainty’, left us with no option but to seek out an administrator.”

Mr Baker has said he had “personally gifted” 11 members of staff sums of £500 to £1,000, and supported others with CV advice, career planning and references during this time.

“Even though I’m not personally liable for the company’s debts, these were people who I knew would be most in need, and despite being £127,000 out of pocket myself, and liable for several company loans that I had personally guaranteed, I was keen to help,” he said.

“Several other employees turned down the offer; whilst other staff members haven’t engaged with us at all in the last week.

“The Redundancy Payment Office will ensure that all employees are paid monies owed, as well as untaken holiday and notice pay.

“Some will receive this in addition to the £500-£1,000 I’ve gifted them personally. We remain in daily contact and many of them have new jobs or are currently being interviewed for new roles.”

But one writer for the company, who asked not to be named, said he had not been provided this and added: “As far as I am aware no one else has either, at least no one I am still in contact has been offered this.”

The company has now filed for administration and Mr Baker says they are supporting staff in their claims, which includes being paid for notice periods and unused holiday.

In his statement Mr Baker added: “Some employees are naturally upset and aren’t engaging with us, but the majority understand the situation and remain close friends.

“They are excited to start a new chapter and we’ve keen to support them, as they have supported us.

“There’s an appetite for marketing experience here in Malvern and these staff members are now well-versed in marketing, having supported 1,200 small businesses with various marketing activities.”