It wasn鈥檛 supposed to be like this.
On February 19th, 2024, Sorted Group Holdings proudly joined the London Stock Exchange鈥檚 AIM market following its acquisition by Location Science Group.
The global software company聽that was founded in 2010 and had raised nearly $100m in investment had been acquired for just 拢66.73 in a reverse takeover deal.
CEO Carmen Carey enthused: 鈥淭his news marks another exciting stage in Sorted鈥檚 journey and brings a number of opportunities for further growth.鈥�
Delivery platform that raised $100m in investment is sold for 拢66.73
New chairman Simon Wilkinson added: 鈥淭he transaction solidifies our collaboration with Carmen and the Sorted team.鈥�
Fast forward 18 months and a lot has changed.
For a start, Carey is no longer at the helm, having stepped down just three months after being photographed clapping so enthusiastically at the London Stock Exchange.
In October 2024, Sorted sold Clicksit, an automated returns company that it acquired in 2021, to ZigZag Global for just 拢775k 鈥� a fraction of the fee that it paid.
As of today, Sorted Group Holdings has a share price of 18p (compared to a high of 75p in the last 12 months) and a market cap of just 拢1.38m.
All of which begs the question that I started this article with: What鈥檚 going on at Sorted Group?
To answer this, I spoke to chairman Simon Wilkinson.
The battle-hardened tech veteran is the former CEO of Mobica and Myriad Group AG.
Alongside Mahmud Kamani, co-founder of Boohoo Group, and Richard Hughes, founder of Zeus Capital, Wilkinson is also an investor.
Wilkinson said the Manchester-based business, which still employs 50 people, had been focussed on turnaround but is now moving into a growth stage.
The new owners have ripped 拢7m of costs out of business and reduced the cash burn to a 鈥榤anageable number鈥�.
Wilkinson admitted: 鈥淲e鈥檙e disappointed where the share price is. We believe it doesn鈥檛 reflect the value of the business. We have a strong, retained ARR. In a normal environment it would be valued at a significant multiple of that revenue.
鈥淲e鈥檝e retained our customers and haven鈥檛 dropped the ball with any of them in terms of the level of service that we commit to and that service is at a high level of performance.
鈥淲e鈥檙e now at the point where our focus is on growth and technology innovation.鈥�
Wilkinson said the decision to sell Clicksit was an easy one because the product simply wasn鈥檛 relevant to their core customers and the proceeds boosted the balance sheet.
He was also keen to highlight the fact that the company has continued to invest in key operational engineering roles.
Wilkinson鈥檚 version of events is borne out by Sorted鈥檚 financial results.
The company鈥檚 most recent sets of accounts for the six months to the end of June 30, 2025, reveal it made a loss of 拢2.14m 鈥� down from 拢3.43m for the same period in 2024. This compares with the eye-watering 拢18.6m lost in 2022.
By comparison, Sorted reported revenues of 拢2.42m in the first half of this year (down from 拢2.76m in the same period in 2024).
In his chairman鈥檚 report, Wilkinson said: 鈥淟ooking ahead to the second half of FY25, our strategic focus remains fixed on agility, efficiency, customer satisfaction, and sustainable revenue growth.
鈥淭he board considers that the foundations laid over the past 18 months positions us well to seize new market opportunities and deliver long-term value to shareholders.鈥�
Sorted also has to repay an outstanding loan to Shard Credit Partners, which will see the interest rate increase from 10.75 per cent to 18 per cent if the company chooses to defer its quarterly interest payment.
What鈥檚 clear is that the Sorted of 2025 is unrecognisable from the business that made it the poster boy for Manchester鈥檚 tech sector for a while.
Sorted鈥檚 story began in 2009 when David Grimes co-founded the business with Paul Haydock after becoming fed up of having to wait in post office queues every time he wanted to post a parcel.
He realised other SMEs were faced with the same problem and was convinced technology had the solution.
In 2010 My Parcel Delivery was born 鈥� a parcel delivery comparison website that would make sending parcels as simple and as hassle-free as possible.
Haydock left amicably but in 2017 the company rebranded as Sorted and counted ASOS, M&S, Dunelm, musicMagpie and Asda among its high profile clients.
In December 2021 and delivery tech platform closed a $40m (拢30m) Series C investment raise led by Chrysalis Investments and Arete Capital Partners.
The investment came less than nine months after Sorted raised another $15m (拢11m) to fund future growth.
Sorted was already enjoying impressive growth before Covid struck but the pandemic was the trigger for exponential聽growth.
In the first year of Covid 鈥� 2020 鈥� Sorted enjoyed a 100 per cent increase in shipment volume compared to 2019. In January 2021 alone, Sorted saw a 243 per cent year-on-year growth as it was named by the FT as one of fastest-growing companies in Europe.
By the time the delivery platform acquired fellow Manchester firm Clicksit in 2021, staff numbers had reached more than 115 people.
The fact that Sorted hadn鈥檛 returned a profit didn鈥檛 seem to deter investors 鈥� until it did.
The company鈥檚 growth 聽failed to keep pace with its forecasts and when the music stopped Sorted were left scuttling around looking for a chair to sit on.
Salvation came in the form of Wilkinson, who was then the chairman of Location Sciences, a location data insight and verification company.
He was attracted by the firm鈥檚 potential and stepped in to buy Sorted at a knockdown price of 拢66.73 in a reverse takeover deal.
Location also agreed to take on the global software firm鈥檚 debts of 拢4m plus interest and invest 拢3m of capital.
The entire board left with the exception of Carmen Carey, who left shortly after Sorted鈥檚 high profile admission to AIM.
What鈥檚 my take? It鈥檚 pretty clear that Wilkinson has been in turnaround mode for the last 18 months.
While the share price is nothing to write home about the board has taken to 拢7m of costs out the business and carried on hiring key operational engineering roles, which is so small feat.
It鈥檚 too early to say if Sorted is truly sorted but the next 12 months has to be about revenue growth.