UK car manufacturer’s £2m debts to Bentley and tax collector

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.

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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.

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“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.