Wrapit Customers Picket HSBC

A protest from customers of collapsed wedding gift firm Wrapit outside the Canary Wharf offices of HSBC took place yesterday.

The firm called in the administrators earlier this week, leaving around 2,000 couples without their gifts. It then emerged that customers who had paid for the goods by Switch or Mastercard also had no prospect of a refund.

Wrapit's biggest creditor was HSBC: the bank is owed around £3.5 million by the firm. Protesters suggested that the bank should alter its current policy of refunding guests rather than buying all outstanding gifts.

Protest organiser Michael O'Sullivan, speaking to the Guardian, said: "This is not a blame game. All we want is for HSBC to facilitate the delivery of our presents.

"We believe this would be easily achieved and could actually be cheaper than organising refunds. The deliveries could be organised at cost price and would be a huge publicity coup for them. It could save them money as well.

Responding, a spokesman for HSBC commented: "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 happened.

"HSBC fully appreciates how Wrapit's customers feel about this issue and understands their distress and concern that a resolution be found quickly."