A Herefordshire wine business which employed nearly 30 staff has collapsed.

Rude Wines, an online wine sales business based at Ledbury, has gone into liquidation and is being wound up voluntarily after years of losses.

The website is not operating and its phone number is no longer working.

The business was controlled by major Hereford firm Allpay until May this year.

Allpay’s managing director, Tony Killeen, remains one of two directors of the business, the other being sales director Deborah Guest.

It is not clear how many jobs are affected, but in 2018 the firm had an average staff number of 27.

Rude Wines – the Rude is short for Rudimentary – was launched in 2013 with the aim of selling ‘innovative wine from unique vineyards.’

One of its signature offers was wines from Peru.

But the firm struggled to make a breakthrough and accounts show that it was heavily reliant on loans from Allpay.

In 2017 it made an operating loss of £1.8m and the next year £1.2m.

But because of the interest on the money it was borrowing from Allpay its total losses were showing at around £2.5m and £1.9m in those years.

In the accounts covering 2017-2018 Rude Wines is shown to have total debts of more than £8.6m, which relates to the annual loans.

However, the debt does not exist in the 2018-19 accounts and the firm is shown with net assets of £621,000.

Birmingham-based firm Butcher Woods have been appointed as liquidators and creditors have been given until just before midnight on November 26 to contact them.

We have been unable to contact Mr Killeen or Ms Guest for comment, and Allpay said Rude Wines was no longer anything to do with them.

Allpay employs more than 300 people in its financial services and technology business based at Whitestone Business Park in Hereford.