England Footballer Loses Thousands in Failed Business

A business that Ex-Liverpool and England footballer, Steven Gerrard owns 25% of is set to be formally dissolved after racking up debts it cannot pay off.

Angel Revive, a spring water manufacturer based in St Helens has ceased trading as it waits to be formally dissolved and struck off from Companies House.

Gerrard had invested £371,524 in the company, as a shareholder alongside the husband-and-wife team of directors. With the business now closed, however, the one-time Champions League winner is likely to lose the vast majority of that sum.

Buried treasure

Owner of Angel Revive, Mark Doyle, started the company back in 2017 after hearing from a local farmer that there was a natural spring buried in his back garden. Shortly afterwards, Doyle hired a digger and started investigating the sprawling countryside garden that accompanied his new house. When he finally uncovered the spring, he used the angel-like shape in the bubbling stone he found as inspiration for the company name.

The natural spring, in Mawdesley, West Lancashire, is found in historic reports dating back to the 18^th century, with Elizabethans claiming that the water from the spring held healing properties. For some reason, however, the spring had been covered over and near-forgotten about for over a century before Doyle rediscovered it.

On inspecting its PH levels, the businessman found that it was naturally alkaline, and marketed it as the only natural alkaline water produced in the UK. Doyle already ran a successful construction business, and soon invested £1m in equipment that allowed his new company to extract, test, and bottle the spring water.

After approaching Gerrard, the ex-Liverpool captain agreed to invest and become brand ambassador for the business. He had become familiar with alkaline water while playing in America for LA Galaxy and was happy to lionise its health benefits. Despite his best efforts though, he has not been able to help steer the company away from insolvency.

“A harsh business lesson”

The last accounts filed by Angel Revive show a net current liability of £542,220, with an unpaid rent bill of £286,265. The rent also includes a remaining commitment to the whole lease term of £398,353. Angel Revive is said to have negotiated a rent agreement with the landlord of their premises to allow them to defer payment for an undisclosed term.

Forbes Burton’s Senior Client Manager, Ben Westoby has guided hundreds of companies through the insolvency practice and doesn’t foresee Gerrard getting any of his money back. “Unfortunately for the Kop legend, he can kiss goodbye to that investment money”.

Westoby added that “in the liquidation process, creditors are given greater priority in being paid than shareholders are. Looking at the size of the debt, made up mostly of unpaid rent, there is little on their last balance sheet to cover it. Current assets totalling £121,213 are insufficient to even pay the rent owed, never mind giving anything back to shareholders.

“It’s reported that Gerrard had been paid back £50,000 of his initial funding and it looks as if that, as well as a harsh business lesson, are the only things he’s likely to get back out of it”.

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