Founder of Peterborough's TV and online shopping channel Ideal World speaks of heartbreak at company's woes

The founder of Peterborough-based TV and online shopping channel Ideal World has spoken of his heartbreak at the company’s plight.

Paul Wright with his business partner Val Kaye set up Ideal World Shopping in 2000 before selling it a decade later in a multi-million pound deal.

Now as the suspension of Ideal World’s broadcasting, website and telephone services continues, Mr Wright said the turmoil facing the company broke his heart and left him feeling sad for the staff and creditors.

Ideal World TV, which operates from studios in Newark Road and has about 250 staff, first announced the temporary suspension of its services through a public notice on its website and its Facebook page on Monday.

A request from the Peterborough Telegraph for an explanation for the suspension generated an email reply from Ideal World’s customer services team.

It stated: “Thank you for your email.

"Please be advised that due to essential maintenance we are unable to respond to your query.

It adds: “Our Customer Experience Team will get back to you within the next 48 to 72 hours.”

Mr Wright, who sold Ideal World in 2011, said: “That the company is in potential difficulty breaks my heart.

"My heart and soul went into that company building it from nothing in 2000 to the tragic fire in 2001 and recovering from that.

"It is breaking my heart that it has now come to the fact that something I built and still love is in this situation. If circumstances were different and I was a bit younger. I’d probably go round for the fourth time but this time is one too many.

He added: “I feel upset for the potential harm it will do to creditors but more importantly the people who work there – they are innocent.

"They just become victims and that breaks my heart.”

After its sale in 2011 to private equity fund Inflexion, Ideal World was bought by Blackstone in 2015, acquired by Aurelius in 2018 and sold to investor Hamish Morjaria last year, a month after its sister brand, Create and Craft, which together made up Ideal Shopping Direct, was sold to Hochanda Global, of Oundle, owned by Mr Wright and Valarie Kaye.