As Wrapit folds, newlyweds tie their hopes to the bank

The company, started by Toronto-born Jewish ex-fashion writer Pepita Diamand seven years ago, failed to find new investors who would inject capital to save the business. In a letter to clients, managing director Peter Gelardi continued to lay the blame for its failure at the door of HSBC, its bank, despite the fact that Wrapit had been in the red every year since 2002, according to its audited accounts.

In a statement, HSBC once again rejected the charge that it was to blame, saying: "The company directors have made several statements and suggestions for a resolution for outstanding orders, none of which HSBC considers appropriate or practical. HSBC's view is that this should never have happened and had the directors acted sooner to address their financial difficulties and appointed administrators when HSBC recommended, it may not have.

"This is a complex situation and we are working with KPMG (the administrator) to get a clearer understanding of the company's financial situation and agree a way forward, but the company has only been in administration for 24 hours and this will take some time."

The bank said if someone had paid for a gift with a credit card and the product was not delivered, they could get a refund by contacting the credit card company, which in turn could claim from HSBC.