Waves buckles under debt pressure

Friday 14 September 2018

Waves have announced the liquidation of its parent company, Waves Technologies Ltd.

The business has buckled under pressure from two recent Royal Court and petty debts judgements in Guernsey, which forced the parent company to enter voluntary liquidation.

While WO1 Ltd - the sub company which delivered any services Waves provided during its time of operation - has not entered liquidation, Waves Technologies Ltd, as the parent company, has.

The joint liquidators Carter Backer Winter, CBW (Guernsey) Ltd and their agents SIA Group (UK) Ltd, are in talks with potential acquirers for WO1 (Waves aviation company) with the hope to confirm a trade sale over the next few weeks.

"At this sad time, it would be easy to point fingers and lay blame.." - Nick Magliocchetti, Waves' former CEO.

Nick Magliocchetti, Founder of Waves, said: “Waves was built with the purpose to facilitate a very clear and proven demand for flexible and customer focussed inter-island travel. The dedicated and driven team from both aviation and non-aviation backgrounds worked with passion to make the dream a reality.

“At this sad time, it would be easy to point fingers and lay blame, however this is a time to reflect on the achievements of the team - the supporters, the stakeholders and the sheer amount of work done and the barriers broken to make this company a reality. The credit must go to the guys and girls who worked endlessly to bring this to fruition.

“It is with a heavy heart that we put Waves Technologies into voluntary liquidation. We hope that if nothing else, the traveling public have seen that there is an alternative. Competition is healthy and that choice and customer service is something that should not be taken for granted but should be an everyday standard for the local travelling community.”

A timeline of Waves' life:

• January 2017 - Waves was launched as the Channel Islands local air taxi provider. 
• September 2017 - Waves gained its Air Operators Certificate (AOC).
• October 2017 -  Waves flew its first commercial flight.
• November 2017 - Waves was the subject of a Judicial Review applied for by Blue Islands against the Guernsey Transport Licencing Authority (TLA).
• December 2017 - Waves suspended single seat operations and applied for route licences between Guernsey and Jersey and Guernsey and Alderney. 
• March 2018 - Waves received both route licences from the Guernsey TLA.
• April 2018 - Wave’s route licence for Alderney was then refused by Alderney Route Licensing.
• May 2018 - Waves' aircraft, 2-CREW, was taken for emergency maintenance, meaning it could not fly for a month.
• June 2018 – Waves announced it was suspending all of its operations to reorganise and reassess, but promised it would return in September. It was soon after revealed by Express that the company never received £500k of its seed capital.
• September 2018 – Waves never relaunched, and on the 14, announced it was liquidating. Now, it is the objective of the liquidator to maintain as much value in the business as possible, and this can be achieved through a trade sale to a serious and good buyer. 

In its statement, Waves said, it will now be the objective of the liquidator to maintain as much value in the business as possible, and this can be achieved through a trade sale to a serious and good buyer. 

Although Waves have not taken any bookings since earlier this year, there are a few remaining passengers due to travel. Anyone requiring information should email hello@flywaves.gg where arrangements have been made to help organise alternative travel.

Waves would not take questions or add any further comment beyond the statement released to the media this afternoon.