A Fife business owner who set up a new finance company days after his old firm was liquidated has defended doing so, claiming the two are “completely different”.
Louis King’s Simply Solutions went bust in November, following an employment tribunal ruling the company unlawfully sacked and withheld pay from a former office manager.
The same month, Mr King incorporated a new payments company, Intellipay, launching officially in January. He is listed as the sole director on Companies House.
Intellipay claims to operate from “central Scotland” and is registered in Manchester.
They offer card payment terminals and merchant services aimed at small and medium sized businesses.
Simply Solutions boss defends new venture
Former office manager Alison Tait took Mr King and Simply Solutions to an employment tribunal over claims she had been dismissed in breach of contract.
Employment judge Amanda Jones ruled in favour of Ms Tait, after neither Mr King or Simply Solutions Group responded to the claim.
Judge Jones awarded Ms Tait £5,220 in damages and unpaid wages.
The Simply Solutions liquidation process is being conducted by Middlebrooks, who previously called for any creditors or former employees to get in touch with them.
Speaking to The Courier when asked about his new venture, Mr King said Intellipay and Simply Solutions were “completely different” businesses.
“Business owners need to be resilient. Curveballs do come our way and we need to ensure we do continue going,” he said.
“When a business goes into liquidation it’s not just the staff (who suffer) and of course it is not nice.
“But we lose our livelihoods as well.
“I met up with another partner in the business. I am not the only director and I was not the only director of Simply Solutions, even though you guys made it clear that it was all about me in a previous article.
“There was another director who was a 40% shareholder.
“Intellipay, since it launched, has been relatively successful, it is a start up.
“(We are) starting again and building something from scratch.
“The liquidation process of Simply Solutions will continue. Businesses do fail and there are always a wide range of circumstances behind that.
“Simply Solutions and Intellipay are completely different businesses and have completely different structures behind them as well.”
Started during pandemic
Mr King had previously claimed his firm would “revolutionise” card payment processes for small businesses after launching from Kirkcaldy in 2020.
Simply Solutions was involved with businesses across retail, hospitality and health and beauty sectors.
Louis said “age is no barrier” when, at 23 he had founded and was director of a number of businesses in the Kingdom.
When the firm moved offices to Lochgelly in 2022, Mr King said he planned on employing 15 staff.
Most recent published accounts for the firm show the company employed three members of staff at the end of December 2023.
He claimed to have hit sales of more than £2 million that year.
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