Bicester-based Hedley Studios Ltd, which makes miniaturised electric versions of classic cars, had administrators appointed in March with the majority of its 74 employees being made redundant.

The business, which was formed out of The Little Car Company in 2025, has now revealed that as of Wednesday, April 15, it had creditors worth £2,070,036.

READ MORE: Evri update on sacked drivers after UK delivery contractor firm shuts

The biggest of these included £618,464 owed to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, £191,535 to Bentley Motors and £56,111 to transportation firm Pro-Logistics.

The full list of its approximately 100 creditors has been published in new documents released on Companies House on Tuesday, April 28, which also offer more insight into why the company collapsed.

Prince Michael of Kent visiting The Little Car Company at Bicester Heritage (Image: BicesterHeritage)

The administrator’s proposal, compiled by representatives of administrators Interpath, details how the company struggled in late December 2025 and so former owner of the business Ben Hedley purchased the shareholding from Island Capital LLC.

The investor group had led the acquisition of previous company The Little Car Company.

Following the management buyout late last year, Interpath was appointed to explore sale and restructuring options as a short-term liquidity requirement was identified.

The Little Car Company became Hedley Studios in Summer 2025 (Image: Bicester Heritage)

This means the business needed cash to cover upcoming payments, often within 30 days although this has not been confirmed in this case.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Interpath launched the early options process by marketing the business to over 250 trade and financial parties.

“The early options process ultimately resulted in no offers on either a solvent or insolvent basis.”

After this the company appointed administrators on March 4.

The business and certain of the assets were sold to a connected party, Hedley Labs Limited, with £100,000 having already been received and a further £150,000 due in May.

This included the transfer of five employees to the new business

Prince Michael of Kent visiting The Little Car Company at Bicester Heritage (Image: BicesterHeritage)

As for Hedley Studios and its remaining assets, a spokesperson for Interpath said: “Whilst we consider it prudent to retain all options available, it is anticipated that the most likely exit route from administration will be via dissolution or a creditors’ voluntary liquidation.”

They added: “Following an extensive sales process, no offers for a rescue of the whole company were received and therefore rescuing the company…was not achievable.

READ MORE: Benefits of £4.4m high street scheme questioned by business group

“Therefore, our primary objective is to achieve a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole than would be likely if the company were wound up.”

In its previous guise, as The Little Car Company, it hosted a royal visit with Prince Michael of Kent trying out some of the cars in 2024. 

The company makes its cars in partnership with a range of luxury manufacturers, including Aston Martin, Bentley and Ferrari.

Smarts Fish and Chips, also known as Littlemore Fish Bar, in Cowley Road, has announced it will be taken over by a different team.

They are promising a ‘new and improved’ shop and customer experience at the chippy.

READ MORE: Oxford sex offender jailed for 18 years for crimes against 4 women

New management will be taking over from this Thursday (April 30), marking their first day on the block and serving customers from the historic fish and chip shop.

A statement from the mysterious new team said: “Just to let everybody know that Smarts Fish and Chip Shop, Littlemore, is opening up again under new management on Thursday, April 30. New and improved.”

The shop could not be reached for comment and no reason was given for the previous manager’s decision to step away from the business.

UK online retail spending rose 10.5% year on year in March as overall retail sales remained firm, according to figures cited by Parcelhero.

The delivery and retail analysis company said online sales values rose 2.4% from February, while total retail sales volumes increased 0.7% month on month. Over the first quarter, retail sales volumes were up 1.6% from the previous quarter.

The figures suggest a resilient consumer market at a time when there were concerns conflict involving Iran could weigh on household confidence and demand. The latest Office for National Statistics retail sales bulletin showed spending held up better than expected.

Some store-based categories also performed well. Textile, clothing and footwear retailers recorded a 1.2% rise in sales volumes as spring ranges reached shops.

David Jinks, head of consumer research at Parcelhero, said some of March’s strength was driven by fuel buying rather than broader discretionary spending.

“While there were understandable concerns that the Iran conflict, which started at the end of February, would impact consumer spending, ironically it helped drive up March’s result due to people stockpiling petrol. With automotive fuel sales stripped from the figures, March’s sales volumes were actually only 0.2% up overall.”

“What is in no doubt is that eCommerce did well. In terms of sales volumes, non-store retailers, the ONS category that is predominantly online sellers, reported volumes up 1.4% in March and 3.7% in Q1. March non-store sales volumes reached their highest level since February 2022.”

“The most spectacular results of all were for eCommerce sales values, the amount spent online. Online sales values rose by 2.4% in March over February and by 10.5% year on year, comparing March 2026 with March 2025.”

“Of course, monthly retail figures are notoriously volatile, which is why the ONS is increasingly concentrating on three-month figures. Q1 online sales values rose 2.5% compared with the previous quarter and, saving the best figures till last, 11.7% year on year against Q1 2025.”

“We’ll end with a snapshot of retail’s overall health. Total spend, the sum of in-store and online sales, rose 1.8% in March and online sales claimed 28.7% of the entire retail market. It will be fascinating to see if this surprisingly strong set of retail results holds up in April as the Iran conflict drags on.”

“Ultimately, however fickle or strong key retail periods of the year prove to be, stores with both a High Street and online offering are the most protected against unexpected events. Parcelhero’s new report, ‘2030: The High Street Fights Back?’, has just been launched as the sequel to its 2016 publication, ‘2030: The Death of the High Street’. The update examines the impact of eCommerce and events such as the pandemic on the High Street. It concludes that the High Street may not have reached a dead end by 2030 but, in this new age of retail, it will have arrived at its biggest crossroads,” Jinks said.

Online share

Beyond the monthly rise, the quarterly numbers suggest internet shopping continued to take a larger share of household spending. Online sales accounted for 28.7% of the total retail market in March.

That matters for retailers balancing store estates with digital operations. The data suggests consumers continued to direct a substantial share of spending online even as physical categories such as clothing improved.

The non-store category, used by the ONS to capture predominantly online sellers, reported sales volumes up 1.4% in March and 3.7% across the first quarter. March marked the highest level for non-store sales volumes since February 2022.

Mixed picture

The broader retail picture was less dramatic once fuel was excluded. Underlying sales volumes would have shown only a 0.2% monthly rise without the boost from automotive fuel purchases.

That highlights the tension within the numbers. Headline retail growth remained positive, but part of the increase appears to have come from precautionary buying linked to geopolitical uncertainty rather than a broad-based surge in discretionary consumer demand.

Even so, online spending values outpaced the rest of the market. First-quarter online sales values rose 2.5% from the previous quarter and were 11.7% higher than the same period a year earlier.

The contrast between sales values and sales volumes is also notable. Higher values can reflect consumers buying more items, spending more per purchase, or changes in product mix, while volume figures track the amount bought more directly.

For retailers, the data suggests digital channels remained a source of growth during a period of external uncertainty. It also underlines the uneven nature of consumer spending, with some sectors benefiting from seasonal demand and others from short-term reactions to international events.

March’s results combined several themes at once: a resilient headline retail market, a stronger showing for online spending, and a more modest underlying picture once fuel effects are removed. Online sales claimed 28.7% of the retail market.