Mansfield Woodhouse bride-to-be ‘heartbroken’ as bridal business closes overnight leaving customers out of pocket

Your Chad has been approached by several brides in the area who allege that scores of women have been left without a dress after La Belle Boutique in Huthwaite closed its doors overnight without warning.

According to one bride-to-be, Ashlie Waller, whose father spent £2,000 on her dream wedding dress in February, she found out about the closure through an Instagram story shared by a friend and still does not have her dress.

Ashlie, who works for the NHS, was left “heartbroken” by the incident as she felt “angry and let down” by an independent business who she thought had her best interests at heart.

She said: “La Belle Boutique has overnight emptied their shop in Huthwaite and left hundreds of brides without dresses, and has taken money from hundreds more. We are all distraught. What do we do now?”

Ashlie said she contacted her dress designer directly only to find that an order was never placed in her name, despite making the payment more than five months ago and having a signed contract to prove her custom.

This snap closure has rocked the community, as other brides have since come forward to share their devastation.

Ashlie said that she is now aware of at least 30 brides affected, who have reported the issue to the police.

The true figures of those not on social media could be higher.

Kelly Lee, a Sutton bride-to-be also left jilted by the business, said: “There are a lot of people out there in Sutton who are heartbroken like me because I'm in the same situation now. Out of money and I cannot get it back from the bank. I am left with nothing.”

Several other bridal businesses in the area have offered their support to help brides locate their dresses following the closure of the shop. Brides of Bakewell, Brooklyn Bridal LTD, Cherished Wedding Boutique Ltd, Prestige Bridal Studio, and Treasured Brides are among the businesses in the area stepping up to assist brides during this time.

However, some brides have managed to find their dresses.

Stacey Wall, who was another bride- to-be affected, shared on Facebook that she found her dress at the now-empty Huthwaite shop.

She explained that several fully paid dresses were left in storage.

With the help of a neighbouring seamstress who was at the shop for a pre-scheduled appointment and unaware of the closure, Stacey said she was able to locate her dress that had been left behind by the business owner.

In a Facebook post, one of the former owners of the business claimed that the company had now been put into liquidation.

However, an email from Strong Anderson, a business recovery, insolvency, and compliance practice, sent to customers and seen by your Chad, states that they have not been appointed or made aware of instructions to liquidate the bridal business.

And although Companies House cannot comment on individual businesses, according to the website, the business remains active.

A spokesman said that if a business was in the hands of liquidators, it would be listed as “inactive” on their website.

Nottinghamshire Police is currently looking into the matter to assess whether a criminal offence has taken place.

A police spokesperson said: “To get a full picture of what has happened here we need as many people affected as possible to get in touch with us.

“Once we have all our evidence it will be reviewed to decide if there has been any criminal dishonesty that we can prove in a court of law.”

For details on how to contact Nottinghamshire Police, visit www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us

Former owners of La Belle Boutique have been approached for a comment regarding these allegations and asked for an update on the situation.