A van supply entrepreneur whose startup was dubbed the Uber of the shifting enterprise was accused of asset-stripping and misappropriating funds after his takeover of a significant UK parcel cargo agency fell aside.
Shift, which was arrange in 2017, agreed to rescue Yodel final yr however the deal unraveled a number of months later. Now, Yodel is suing the corporate and founder Jacob Corlett in London’s Excessive Courtroom, claiming in filings that he “systematically stripped its property and misappropriated its cash.”
The 30-year-old denies the allegations and is counter-suing for £10 million ($12.2 million) in unpaid charges.
The authorized wrangling is taking part in out in opposition to a backdrop of deal-making throughout the British parcel supply business, which loved a surge in demand in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic however suffered within the aftermath as prices soared with inflation.
Final yr, Apollo International Administration Inc. agreed to purchase Evri Ltd from personal fairness rival Introduction Worldwide, whereas Royal Mail’s mother or father Worldwide Distribution Companies Plc agreed to a £3.6 billion takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
The battle for Yodel, which in August secured £85 million in funding backed by provider PayPoint Plc, isn’t over. Sky Information reported Thursday [Jan. 9] a gaggle of purported warrant-holders together with Corlett issued a proper demand for these to be become shares, which Corlett stated in a press release would hand them management of the corporate.
The warrants aren’t legitimate and Yodel has no authorized data of them, a spokesman for the corporate stated in a press release.
Failed Takeover
Shift drew comparisons with Uber on account of its mannequin based mostly on permitting customers to ebook a van utilizing the platform. It expanded through acquisitions, and later started to deal with logistics carriers, placing struggling Yodel in its sights. It secured backing from traders together with enterprise capital agency Gasoline Ventures.
Yodel, which employs as many as 12,000 folks in peak durations and says it delivers over 190 million packages a yr, started life because the logistics division of retailer Very Group earlier than increasing. Its web site lists purchasers together with the John Lewis division retailer group and style retailer Zara, whose prospects can accumulate on-line orders at a Yodel store. Till final yr, it was owned by the Barclay household, who not too long ago misplaced management of the Telegraph newspaper group.
It recorded a lack of £48.3 million in 2023, accounts filed at registry Companies House present. Yodel was close to collapse when a Shift-led consortium backed by boutique funding financial institution Solano Companions purchased it for a nominal £1 in February final yr.
Just some months later, Corlett’s short-lived possession of Yodel ended. The corporate’s struggles have continued, with a capability disaster over Christmas forcing it to inform some retail prospects it couldn’t ship their merchandise. A spokesman stated it’s now not experiencing issues.
“A brand new path is clearly required at Yodel,” Corlett stated.
Authorized Combat
Yodel alleged in filings that Corlett directed or brought about funds to be made for his personal profit, together with £1.5 million paid to a Shift subsidiary “for no correct and legit goal and for no consideration.” It additionally stated £2.67 million was paid to Shift as fee for facilitating a license price association to make use of its platform on uncompetitive phrases. Yodel is claiming for no less than £4.6 million.
For his half, Corlett denies any involvement or data of the £1.5 million cost. He additionally denies being concerned in negotiating the license deal to make use of Shift’s platform — although he does acknowledge signing it when offered with a draft settlement. He says he had no data of the £2.67 million bill.
However moderately than the license phrases being dangerous for Yodel at an annual price of £18 million, he says the corporate stood to make financial savings of about £78 million.
Within the courtroom filings, Corlett additionally alleges he was pressured out in June by PayPoint Chief Govt Officer Nick Wiles and Yodel’s CEO Mike Hancox as they tried to wrestle management from him. Based on Corlett, Wiles pushed him into promoting the consortium’s shares to a brand new agency managed by Hancox for £1, and threatened to take steps that may put Yodel into chapter 11 if he didn’t agree.
Wiles declined to remark.
Corlett alleges he by no means received a promised 10% stake in Hancox’s new agency, or funds beneath a brand new consultancy settlement he stated had been agreed on the time.
As a substitute of honoring these obligations, Yodel’s CEO “made vindictive, baseless allegations with no supporting proof in a clear try to strain me into abandoning my authorized rights, which won’t succeed,” Corlett stated.
“Yodel is conscious of a lot of groundless claims about our enterprise being made by a former director which we refute of their entirety,” the corporate stated.
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
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