Staff and customers claim they have lost money
12:04, 24 Jul 2025Updated 12:47, 24 Jul 2025
The Gloden tanning salon in Bedminster (Image: Bristol Live)
A tanning salon business with branches throughout Bristol has closed down and reportedly gone into administration. Staff at Gloden, which also had salons in Yate and Keynsham as well as elsewhere in the South West and Wales, were reportedly told about the administration at short notice on July 14, the business’ apparent final day of trading.
“Gloden has gone into administration as of today,” employee Katie Meakin wrote on Facebook. “All studios closed. Staff were not informed prior to today.”
“All staff working during the day were contacted and told to close. Staff not working today were notified by a message on the company communication app.”
Although the company is still listed as active on the Companies House website, all of the phone lines rang out when Bristol Live tried to contact the Gloden head office. Gloden also did not reply to an email requesting further information about the apparent administration.
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A handwritten note in the window of the Filton branch located in Shield Retail Park said the company had gone into administration and apologised to customers for the closure. The Bedminster branch in Cannon Street was also closed in the middle of what should have been a trading day, without any explanation.
A sign in the window showed the Gloden tanning salon, Bedminster, was closed in the middle of the day.(Image: Bristol Live)
Customers with pre-purchased credit to use the beds at Gloden expressed fears they would not be able to recover their money. There are also claims that some staff members had been left unpaid.
Just four days before apparently going into administration, Gloden advertised for staff for its Hereford branch in a post on its official Facebook page, the last social media post to date.
Angry former customers spammed the comments section of the post wondering how they would recover their money. “I topped up my account last week by £100,” Facebook user Shauna Jane Colcombe wrote.
“I hope that there will be a way of getting my money back. Unfortunately I am not hopeful looking at past stores that have closed etc.”
When a company goes into administration, customers with vouchers and gift cards are considered to be unsecured creditors, according to Which? consumer rights. This means it can be difficult to recover any money spent on a pre-paid voucher.
Customers who paid for their credit with Gloden via debit or credit card were advised to contact their card issuer. Other customers were advised to get in contact with the Gloden administrators, who had yet to be appointed at the time of writing.
Gloden opened its first studio in Bristol in 1996, going on to expand to at least 25 locations from Reading to Swansea, but the majority were in Bristol and the surrounding area. As well as hosting a suite of sunbeds, Gloden’s salons also sold a range of other products such as tanning creams.
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