Brendan Cole's dance firm fails to repay nearly £100,000 after collapse
Liquidators say creditors are unlikely to recover money; debts include a tax bill and a Bounce Back Loan.
Brendan Cole Ltd, the dance company launched by former Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole, has failed to repay almost £100,000 to creditors after entering voluntary liquidation. Documents filed at Companies House show the defunct business faced a £28,000 tax bill and a £50,000 Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan, among other debts, and liquidators say they do not expect to make distributions to any class of creditor.
Brendan Cole launched the company in 2009 while still making regular appearances on the BBC show, with its main purpose listed as amusement and recreation activities. The firm filed accounts up to May 2021, six months before it was placed into voluntary liquidation in November 2021, and those accounts were overdue. The liquidation followed Cole’s rise to fame during Strictly Come Dancing and his later television appearances, including a stint on Dancing On Ice.
In statements released in 2022, the business was shown to owe £22,000 in corporation tax, £6,000 in PAYE and National Insurance contributions and £4,600, along with £400 to accountants. Liquidators described the overall position as unlikely to yield a distribution to any creditor class after asset realisations and fees.
The liabilities also include a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan obtained from HSBC Bank, a programme designed to support small firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. A further debt highlighted by the liquidators is a £28,000 tax bill, underscoring the breadth of the financial obligations tied to the collapsed venture.
As part of ongoing arrangements, Cole is understood to have agreed to repay £1,000 a month to settle a £45,000 director’s loan he took from the company. He owned 70 percent of Brendan Cole Ltd, with his wife Zoe holding the remaining 30 percent, according to filings from that period.
The 2010s into the early 2020s saw Cole weather public remarks about the challenges of life on a high-profile television stage. In 2024, he described a difficult period around the current Strictly Come Dancing series, telling a media outlet that while the job could be rewarding, it could also be demanding and pressure-filled. He recalled working with celebrities he did not always click with and emphasized that the pro’s role was to guide celebrities through demanding routines.
Daily Mail contacted a representative for Brendan Cole for comment on the liquidation and the outstanding debts.
The liquidation process highlights the financial risks that can accompany celebrity-led ventures, even when the founder remains a familiar public figure. While the company’s collapse ends its operations in the formal sense, the specifics of remaining creditor claims and any further recoveries will be determined through the ongoing administration process and potential asset realisations, if any remain after proceedings and costs are settled. In the meantime, the public record shows that the business’s liabilities, including tax and loan obligations, far outstrip readily available assets, making creditor recovery unlikely according to the latest statements from the appointed liquidators.