Ideal World: Co-founder of collapsed shopping channel heartbroken

Former children's TV presenter Peter Simon was a regular host on Ideal World

The man who co-founded a TV shopping channel that has gone bust said the company's collapse and the loss of hundreds of jobs had "broken my heart".

Peterborough-based Ideal World hired insolvency experts after a slump in trade, leaving the majority of its 275 staff facing redundancy.

Paul Wright, who later sold the firm, said it was not the "legacy" he wanted.

"The reality is, the pandemic has changed everything," he said, adding the market had changed "dramatically".

The shopping channel posted a statement on Facebook on Tuesday, saying: "We regret to inform you that Ideal World have had to temporarily suspend broadcasting and our website. We apologise for any inconvenience."

On Wednesday it hired insolvency experts from Kroll Advisory UK.

A message notifying a suspension of broadcasting was played out to viewers

Ideal World was launched in 2000 and broadcasted about 18 hours of TV per day, selling a variety of products.

The company was co-founded by Mr Wright and Val Kaye.

Mr Wright said: "We called it Ideal World because we wanted to make it very different to what was then the standard - a company called QVC, which was owned by Americans - we wanted to make it very English.

"It was a very difficult journey in those first early years," he said, but added he ran it "successfully" for 10 years.

"I started to see that the market was changing and I was getting older, so we sold it."

Paul Wright and Val Kaye started the shopping channel in 2000

He described the news of the company's collapse as "very sad for me, personally".

He said he hoped he had left "a long-time legacy and something that would continue to grow and be relevant as time progressed".

"The reality is, the pandemic has changed everything - in terms of TV shopping which back in 2000 was still relatively new - but the market's changed quite dramatically.

"I just don't think perhaps the owners were able to innovate and adapt to the new reality of the general broadcast market."

Mr Wright said he still had many friends who continued to work at Ideal World, and said: "It's broken my heart to think not just of all that effort... but the legacy is, 250 people who have lost their jobs, they're innocent."

About 275 people were employed at the company's Peterborough headquarters

Kroll Advisory UK said it would fulfil existing customer orders where possible.

Its managing director of restructuring, Michael Lennon, said: "Over the last few years, the Direct Response TV sector globally has suffered a decline in viewer and customer numbers as consumer spending habits changed.

"Whilst Ideal World TV had brought in a significant number of new brands and retail partners to the channel over the last year, overall trading was not strong enough for the business to continue in its present format."

The business was bought by investor Hamish Morjaria last year.

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