The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2026
The Ringmaker went broke trading bespoke ring orders it couldn't finish
The Glasgow ringmaker kept trading insolvent, taking bespoke orders, then liquidated with all nine staff redundant and customers' pieces unfinished.
The Ringmaker · Holkar Ltd · Ninety Four Ltd · 2026-01-21
What happened
The Ringmaker had made bespoke engagement and wedding rings in Glasgow since 1985, with a second showroom on Dundas Street in Edinburgh. Customers bought one-on-one consultations with its designers to craft one-off pieces, and for 40 years it built a reputation as one of Glasgow's finest producers of personalised jewellery.
In the months before the end, trade soured. A downturn running into Christmas continued into the New Year, and mounting bills left the firm unable to pay its debts. Crucially, it kept trading and kept taking bespoke orders while insolvent — customers still waiting on delivery of personally crafted goods took to its Facebook page, some trying for over a week to reach the company.
The directors ceased trading on 13 January 2026 and sought a liquidator. Azets in Renfrew, through Blair Milne, was appointed provisional liquidator to both parent firms — Holkar Ltd and Ninety Four Ltd — on 21 January. All nine employees were made redundant. The liquidators returned most of the jewellery already belonging to customers, but those awaiting finished bespoke pieces were left to claim through the Redundancy Payments Service.
Why it happened
- It kept taking bespoke orders while insolvent, leaving customers who had paid for one-off pieces uncertain whether they would ever see them.
- Mounting bills and a Christmas downturn were the warning: the firm could not pay its debts but traded on until the directors could no longer ignore it.
- A bespoke business runs on customer trust and prepaid work; once customers could not reach the company, the 40-year reputation was gone in weeks.
The lesson
Solvency is consumer protection for a bespoke business. Customers paid in advance for one-off pieces, and trading while insolvent turned a 40-year reputation into a race customers could not win.
Aftermath
Azets was appointed provisional liquidator to Holkar Ltd and Ninety Four Ltd on 21 January 2026, winding up both companies that traded as The Ringmaker. All nine staff were made redundant and the firms' assets were to be sold to give creditors a return. The liquidators returned the majority of jewellery belonging to customers and invited anyone with queries to contact Azets. The brand's social media had gone silent since early January, and the Glasgow trade had watched the decline for months before the formal notice appeared on Companies House.
Sources
- The National — The Ringmaker has gone bust after 40 years, no one is safe (8 Feb 2026)
- Yahoo / Daily Record — Edinburgh jewellery firm falls into liquidation (8 Feb 2026)
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