Three companies linked to Belmont House on Lake Road went into creditors' voluntary liquidation on 8 July. The Sipping Fox distiller stays active.
Three companies behind a group of wine, gifting and holiday-let businesses linked to Belmont House on Lake Road, Bowness-on-Windermere, were put into creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 8 July 2026, notices published in The London Gazette show. The Wine Loft Limited, Lake District Drinks Limited and Lake District Gifting Limited all passed winding-up resolutions the same day, and the same liquidator was appointed to all three. (The Gazette, notice 5171860)
A fourth company registered at the same address, the distilling business behind the Sipping Fox drinks brand, is not part of the liquidations and remains active on the Companies House register.
Three companies, one day
The appointment notices record Molly Monks of insolvency firm Parker Walsh, of Bramhall in Cheshire, as liquidator of all three companies, appointed on 8 July by their members and creditors, with each liquidation recorded as a creditors’ voluntary liquidation. (The Gazette, notice 5171895)
The three companies are:
- Lake District Drinks Limited, incorporated in November 2019. Its Gazette notice gives its business as “the wholesale of wine, beer, spirits and other alcoholic beverages”. (The Gazette, notice 5172581)
- The Wine Loft Limited, incorporated in January 2020. Companies House classifies its business as holiday accommodation, and a two-bedroom apartment called The Wine Loft, inside Belmont House, is advertised on holiday-letting sites. (Companies House, company 12434227; Snaptrip listing)
- Lake District Gifting Limited, incorporated in December 2021, registered for the same drinks wholesale and retail activities as Lake District Drinks. (Companies House, company 13794252)
The notices for The Wine Loft and Lake District Gifting both give the same principal trading address: Belmont House, Lake Road, Bowness-on-Windermere. (The Gazette, notice 5172575)
One director, one address
Companies House lists the same sole director for all three companies, Judith Elaine Cropley, who is named as chair of the general meeting in The Wine Loft’s winding-up notice. She is also recorded as the person with significant control of Lake District Drinks, holding 75 per cent or more of its shares. (Companies House, officers of Lake District Drinks)
All three companies gave the same registered office in the Gazette notices, 3 Lowther Gardens, Grange-over-Sands. The notices record the resolutions and appointments only; they give no account of why the companies stopped trading, and no figures for what is owed. Those normally follow later in the liquidator’s filings to Companies House.
The Sipping Fox company is not affected
The same registered office and the same sole director appear on a fourth company, SippingFox Limited, incorporated in November 2022 and registered for distilling, rectifying and blending of spirits. It is not named in any of the liquidation notices, and Companies House records it as active. (Companies House, company 14506754)
The Sipping Fox brand, which styles itself The Lake District Drinks Company and sells its own handcrafted spirits, continues to run its own website. (Sipping Fox)
What it means for you
If any of the three companies owes you money, as a supplier, customer or member of staff, you are a creditor in the liquidation. The Gazette notices direct enquiries to the liquidator’s office, Parker Walsh, on 0161 546 8143 or info@parkerwalsh.co.uk. (The Gazette, notice 5172581)
If you have a booking at The Wine Loft apartment, the notices do not say how existing bookings are being handled. The liquidator’s office, at the contact above, is the route to an answer; if you booked through an agency or letting platform, its customer service is the other place to ask.
For Bowness, the public record so far shows three companies closing, not what happens next to the ground floor of Belmont House, one of the most prominent corners of Lake Road. We will report the liquidator’s statement of affairs, which sets out assets and creditors, when it reaches the public register.
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