The owners of a popular independent business claim they have yet to be paid for working on events staged by a major high street retailer last year.
Michelle and Michael Waterfield, owners of A Slower Space on Penny Lane, which specialises in flowers and homeware, claim they are owed more than £2,000 after working with Tessuti on two events in November and December last year. Michelle, 43, said the work involved providing flowers, offering goody bags for influencers and staging a wreath-making class.
She said A Slower Space also provided a full floral arrangement for a bottomless brunch event hosted by Tessuti and Juicy Couture at Dash restaurant on Victoria Street. The small business owners told the ECHO that invoices have been sent for half of the money owed, with the other half to be paid to A Slower Space via a Liverpool-based PR company who are also said to be waiting on payment - which it is claimed is now more than 45 days overdue.
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The Penny Lane outlet had been running a pop-up shop inside of Tessuti’s Liverpool ONE flagship store from November 2022. This led on to being asked to work on the events, some of which involved gifting influencers.
Tessuti, a high street retailer selling a range of major clothing brands, was formerly owned by the JD Group but changed hands in December when purchased by the Frasers Group, owners of major high street stores such as Sports Direct and Flannels. Tessuti carried out a big promotion campaign when launching in Liverpool which featured local celebrities such as Stephen Graham, with its new Liverpool ONE store opening in August 2022.
The JD Group declined to comment on the issue relating to A Slower Space when approached by the ECHO and noted that it could not look into it any further due to the sale of Tessuti. Frasers Group was approached for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.
A Slower Space opened on Penny Lane just over three years ago and was inspired by husband and wife Michelle and Michael’s time travelling and Living in Hong Kong. Former fashion designer Michelle told the ECHO that the shop has had “great support from the local community” in the time it has been open.
Michelle claims conversations with the JD Group about recovering the payment have hit a dead end with the retail giant claiming it no longer owns the debt. The business owner told the ECHO she had growing concerns that it might not be paid.
Michelle said: "At first we were really excited about the opportunity to work with big brands. The chance to work with Juicy Couture was a massive deal for us.
“[But] we’ve been left upset and frustrated [by the lack of payment from Tessuti].”
Frasers Group did not respond to request for comment.
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