10:27 am, March 17, 2026
Failed supercar dealer Targa Florio has officially appointed liquidators after being served with a winding-up order.
The Chichester-based retailer imploded spectacularly earlier in the year, when the business suddenly shut down its website, phone number and site without warning.
The outfit operated a sale or return model but several customers complained that their cars had been sold and no funds had been handed over.
Founder William Kirkham told the BBC in January that he was ‘filing for bankruptcy’ and moves have now officially begun to shut down the premium car dealership.
The news was confirmed via an announcement to the London Gazette – the authorised record for Government notices – last week and documents have now also been filed with Companies House.
The announcement confirms that the business will be wound up voluntarily, with Thomas Charles Russell and Sandra Lillian Mundy, both of James Cowper Kreston, appointed to oversee the liquidation process.
The licensed insolvency practitioners officially took up their posts on March 9 and work is now underway to close down the stricken firm.
The announcement, signed off by Kirkham, confirms ‘that the company be wound up voluntarily’ and ‘that Thomas Charles Russell and Sandra Lillian Mundy, both of James Cowper Kreston be and are hereby appointed Joint Liquidators for the purpose of winding-up the company and that any act required or authorised under any enactment to be done by the Joint Liquidators needs to be done by both or either of them.’
When Car Dealer visited the ex-Targa Florio dealership earlier this year it found all cars had been removed and the site still had computers on the desks and many items left behind.
One customer who gave his car to Kirkham on sale or return said he was told by the owner that the dealership would reopen on January 5 but when he turned up everything had gone.
Kirkham’s solicitor told the BBC that the decision to close had been taken ‘following very difficult trading conditions’.
He blamed ‘black book realignment, the increase in business rates, national insurance and other business expenses’.
Targa Florio Cars was a regular nominee at the Car Dealer Magazine Used Car Awards and consistently received excellent reviews on Google and Auto Trader.
Previous wins included Best Use of Video in 2021 as well as securing the Used Car Website of the Year win in both 2018 and 2019.
Car Dealer has approached the liquidators for comment.
