Fashion designer Tabitha Webb admits that she’s always taken risks to achieve her ambitions, but it is the poor old taxpayer who’s been left to foot the bill – again.
I can disclose that Tabitha Designs Ltd – which has made brightly coloured clothes worn by the Princess of Wales, Holly Willoughby and Emilia Fox – has gone bust with debts of more than £700,000, including £50,000 owed to HMRC.
The company, established in 2013, has been put into voluntary liquidation as a result.
‘Following a number of business challenges since the pandemic and declining sales as a result, the director of Tabitha Designs Ltd has made the difficult decision to enter liquidation,’ a spokesman for the liquidators confirms. ‘It is unlikely that liabilities to creditors will be repaid.’
Tabitha, 50, gave up a high-flying career in advertising to launch her range, because she was ‘frustrated by the selection of bags and accessories available’.
She later expanded into women’s clothing, producing mainly silk and cashmere outfits.
Tabitha Webb (left) pictured with Pippa Middleton at the launch of her first retail store in 2023. Her clothing company has gone bust with debts of more than £700,000, writes Richard Eden
Kate wore one of her blue space-themed dresses to the London premiere of Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas in 2015. And for a video call with nurses during lockdown in 2020, she sported a Tabitha chevron cashmere sweater.
The Princess of Wales wearing Tabitha WebbÂ
The Oxford-educated designer, who attended £62,000-a-year Wycombe Abbey school in Buckinghamshire, has two daughters, Betsey, 14, and Primrose, seven, with husband Gavin Ferrar, a South African geologist. In 2020 she published her book, No Regrets, which was described as a ‘dazzling first novel’ by the late Dame Jilly Cooper.
This is not the first time Tabitha’s companies have faced insolvency. In 2013, clothing firm Ragdoll Management, which she launched with her pop star friend Dannii Minogue, went bust with £1.2million of debt. Another of her companies, Tabitha Accessories, racked up debts of £135,000 before it was closed down.
Her first company, Tabitha Webb Ltd, went into liquidation in 2007 while owing more than £214,000 to creditors and a further £60,000 to HMRC.
Ricky Gervais, who has a reputed fortune of £130million, is anxious to stay humble. ‘I keep my low status in two ways,’ explains The Office star, 64. ‘I show them that it’s not all glam, all the silly things I’ve done, the mistakes I’ve made, the faux pas I’ve made in Hollywood [and] I talk about being fat and old and going bald, and my testicles distending.’Â
Erin’s home life takes The Crown Â
Erin wins best supporting actress at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday
She won big at the Critics Choice Awards for her stellar performance in Netflix drama Adolescence.
But Erin Doherty, who was named best supporting actress in Hollywood on Sunday, is finding even more joy from her love life.
The 33-year-old, who also played Princess Anne in The Crown, has revealed she’s moved in with her girlfriend.
She has described the choice to live with NHS radiographer Sinead Donnelly, 35, as the ‘natural’ next step.
She adds: ‘As much as I loved getting on the trains and going to see her and spend days in London, I also wanted to wake up next to her. I’m such a romantic.’
The star, who lived in West Sussex, says: ‘People say it’s a cliche lesbian thing to move in straight away. But I just thought, ‘I really think I should move in’. I just love her.’
Erin, right, with her partner, NHS radiographer Sinead Donnelly, 35
Why I needed to leave the States, by X-Men star
Prominent Americans are ‘scared’ to speak out against President Donald Trump, claims X-Men star Alan Cumming – who now spends more time in his native Scotland than New York.
‘The political situation was a factor,’ admits the actor, 60. ‘I wanted to be in a country where I feel my values are more aligned with the actual values of the government and the people. It’s comforting to be in a place where you know people are looking out for each other.’
He adds of the US: ‘It’s scary to live there right now, especially being well known and outspoken.
‘I realised so few people do that any more because they’re scared.’
Raymond’s Blanc look for 2026
The new year has begun on a bittersweet note for Raymond Blanc, after he closed double Michelin-starred restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.
The Oxfordshire site has shut for 18 months for redevelopment. Blanc will hardly appear when it reopens as the chef, 76, becomes a ‘lifetime ambassador’ at the eatery he opened in 1984.
‘New Year’s Eve was our final service,’ Blanc says. ‘Although there was an element of sadness, there was also immense joy in closing such a proud 41-year chapter of our story.’
Lily’s many reasons to SmileÂ
Lily Allen’s latest album may be just the beginning of the singer’s West End Girl era
Lily Allen used her latest album, West End Girl, to chronicle the collapse of her marriage to Stranger Things star David Harbour.
And the American actor, 50, may have to endure yet more reminders of their five-year union. For I hear that the Smile singer, 40, has applied to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to trademark the West End Girl title for what would be a range of clothing, jewellery and make-up.
Other potential product areas listed are sunglasses, bags and footwear. The proposed title is currently classed by the IPO as being under ‘examination’.
Having sold his £5.5million Devon stately home and moved into a thatched cottage a quarter of a mile away, Lord Ivar Mountbatten is apparently being followed by his ex-wife, Penny. Now married to James Coyle, an air cabin services director, Lord Ivar, 62, says: ‘She has bought a farmhouse nearby and gets on very well with James. Whenever I can’t find him, he’s likely to be with Penny, probably bitching about me.’Â
