Tiger Feet, the Manchester-headquartered wholesaler of greeting cards, party supplies and giftware, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators in the UK as it looks to secure an injection of funding. The business, backed by investment firm Ardenton, said it continues to trade as normal.
In a statement, the business said the directors of Tiger Feet Ltd, which it described as “a long-established UK business-to-business supplier” of greeting cards, balloons, party supplies, giftware, toys and stationery, had filed the notice.
“The filing of a notice of intention provides the company with a short statutory period in which to explore options to secure the future funding for the business,” the company said.
“During this time, the directors, together with their professional advisers, are assessing all available options.
“No administrators have been appointed at this stage, and the business will continue to trade as normal while this process is ongoing.”
Tiger Feet Ltd was originally known as Budget Greeting Cards Ltd and has served the wholesale trade for more than 40 years.
In 2024, following the acquisition of Paul White Ltd and Tiger Feet Direct, Budget Greeting Cards rebranded as Tiger Feet. Ardenton has backed the business since 2019.
The company supplies greeting cards, balloons, party supplies, giftware, toys and stationery. It operates through a network of branches across the UK and Ireland alongside established publishers.
In its latest filed accounts, covering the year to 30 December 2024, Tiger Feet Ltd reported a pre-tax loss of £1.3m on turnover of £28.5m. The company employed 140 people in the period covered by those accounts.
A notice of intention to appoint administrators is a step taken before an appointment is made. Under paragraph 28 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, directors cannot make an appointment under such a notice after a period of 10 business days beginning with the date it is filed at court.
HMRC’s guidance to its own staff states that filing the notice creates a moratorium. During that period, no legal process may be started or continued against the company without the consent of the administrator or the permission of the court, the guidance says.
The directors have said the period will be used to assess options to secure future funding for the business.
The filing follows the publication of official insolvency figures for England and Wales last week. Insolvency Service data recorded 102 administrations in September 2026, 44 per cent lower than in August and 20 per cent lower than in September 2025.
Total registered company insolvencies were 1,882 in September, down 4 per cent on August and 5 per cent on the same month last year, the Insolvency Service said.
The agency said the average monthly number of administrations in the first nine months of 2026 was 29 per cent higher than the 2025 monthly average. It attributed that to more than 250 connected companies in the real estate sector entering administration between March and August.
The wholesale and retail trade sector, which in the official classification includes the repair of motor vehicles, recorded 3,364 insolvencies in the 12 months to September. That was 15 per cent of cases where an industry was captured, and a 10 per cent decrease on the previous 12 months, according to the same release.
Separately, the National Audit Office said on Friday that HMRC expects £12.9bn of tax debt to go uncollected, with £9.8bn of that made up of write-offs it linked to a rise in company closures and personal bankruptcies.
In January, Begbies Traynor reported a 44 per cent rise in the number of companies it classed as being in critical financial distress in the final three months of 2025, compared with the same period a year earlier.
