Lucy Locket Loves: Sheffield social media influencer closes business owing nearly £900,000

A Sheffield clothing entrepreneur and influencer has gone bust owing almost £900,000.

Lucy Arnold announced she had put Lucy Locket Loves, of Dronfield, into liquidation and made staff redundant.

She blamed the cost of living crisis, supply chain issues, warehouse floods and rising import costs.

A former personal trainer based in Sharrow, she set up in 2018 after a back injury. By 2020 she was hailed in business magazine Forbes’ 30 under 30 top entrepreneurs in Europe with an annual turnover of $3.2m and 15 staff.

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But in a Facebook post this week, she wrote took ‘full responsibility’, adding: “This has been incredibly distressing, particularly for our team, who were reluctantly made redundant. We deeply regret the impact on our staff and their families and I can never say sorry enough for how abruptly this happened. This has personally been the most upsetting part of this process.”

A statement of affairs by the liquidator reveals she owes creditors more than £898,000, including £70,000 to the tax man.

But, her post goes on to state she intends to make a comeback.

She added: “We aim to relaunch the Locket Loves website in summer with a new look, operational hub, and new leggings designs.

“This rebuilding phase will take time, especially as I am also caring for my newborn daughter, but I am dedicated to restoring the service and products you love.

“Although the past few weeks have been the hardest of my life, I am committed to being open about the challenges we’ve faced. I appreciate your support as we navigate this difficult period. Your loyalty means the world to us, and we are eager to continue this journey with you.”

In 2019, she told The Star how important social media was.

She said then said: “I do miss personal training but because of my business I have a bigger voice on social media to talk about things people don’t discuss much, like loving yourself and being positive about your body.

“That’s had a great impact on my brand.”