Cannim Group Pty, the international medical cannabis company with operations spanning the UK, Australia, the US and Canada, has entered voluntary administration.
Days later, its UK subsidiary Lumir Clinic, was forced to pause new patient enrolments and notify regulators, as its director Tim Henley formally resigned from his position.
The Sydney-based company is understood to have been facing a cashflow crisis for some time, and publicly available filings show its British subsidiary, Cannim Limited, was already under financial pressure months before the collapse, with net current liabilities and new long-term debt on its balance sheet.
As the dust settles following its dramatic collapse, numerous parties are understood to have already expressed an interest in the company’s assets, including its founder John Worton, while creditors already in protracted legal disputes with the company claim they’re owed multiple millions.
The future for its businesses, assets, creditors and patients remains unclear for now, but UK Director Tim Henley assured Business of Cannabis: “Regulation is the key, and safe patient transition is our goal moving forward. We’ll be contacting all patients and moving forward on that basis.”
Administrators called in
According to an October 27 filing on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Published Notices portal, Cannim Australia Pty Ltd and Cannim Group Pty Ltd have entered into voluntary administration under section 436A of the Corporations Act 2001.
Administrators Michael James Billingsley, Neil Robert Cussen and Rajiv Goyal of Olvera Advisors were appointed according to ASIC Form 505 lodged the same day.
Court filings show that the administrators sought and obtained orders from the Supreme Court of New South Wales to confirm their appointment and to limit their personal liability under a Funding Deed with Finstro Securities Pty Ltd, as trustee for the Finstro Asset Trust.
The order allows the administrators to draw on short-term finance to trade through the administration and explore options for recapitalisation or sale, with their liability restricted to company assets rather than personal exposure.
Creditors have been invited to a virtual meeting on 6 November 2025, where they may form a committee of inspection or vote to replace the administrators.
Olvera Advisors’ initial report indicates that at least one secured creditor is owed around A$4 million, with substantial noteholder liabilities also outstanding. A subsequent circular confirmed the court’s approval of the Finstro facility, noting that creditors have a three-day window to contest the orders.
The administrators’ sale and recapitalisation process is already underway, with expressions of interest due by 7 November.
It’s UK Operations
Cannim’s UK operations have paused new patient enrolments, in a development that exposes the cross-border financial fragility of the international cannabis group.
UK Director Tim Henley confirmed that the Lumir Clinic, which operates under the Care Quality Commission (CQC), had been forced to halt new intake and issue regulatory notices following the Australian insolvency filing.
“Because of the current situation, we can’t provide patients with safe prescribing conditions,” Henley said.
“The decision was made this morning (October 31) by the clinical governance team, and the CQC has been notified.”
Henley, who resigned as a director of Cannim Ltd on the same day, said the UK team had “done everything possible” to sustain operations but that the collapse of funding from Australia made continuation “untenable.”
“It’s not the UK team’s fault,” he said. “We were given assurances; it was a difficult fundraising time, but we were assured those funds were going to come.”
He described the situation as ‘the worst day of my life,’ adding that staff were being supported and that ‘safe patient transition’ was now the immediate priority.
Financial pressure
Cannim’s UK arm, Cannim Ltd, filed unaudited micro-entity accounts to 31 October 2024, showing no employees and a narrow positive balance of £142,880, up from a £55,605 deficit the previous year. However, the accounts also record creditors due within one year, rising to £208,291 and long-term liabilities of £103,062, suggesting a rising debt burden.
In July 2025, Finstro Securities registered a charge over the company’s assets at Companies House. The filing, which covers “all present and future property and undertaking,” appears to secure a cross-border funding arrangement linked to the Australian group. Henley declined to discuss the facility directly but acknowledged that the crisis stemmed from “investment in Australia” rather than from UK trading or compliance issues.
The UK clinic, he confirmed, had been operating under the Lumir brand, which was developed alongside the Australian group’s telehealth platform. Henley said the team had been preparing to “accelerate” an expansion strategy before the Australian funding collapse.
Creditor claims and disputed ownership
One of the largest creditors listed in connection with Cannim Group’s administration is understood to be Jade Proudman, founder of Savage Cabbage and a long-standing figure in the UK cannabidiol sector.
In a formal letter to the Australian administrators, seen by Business of Cannabis, Proudman states that she is owed more than £2 million under a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) relating to Cannim’s proposed acquisition of Setala Ltd and its associated businesses.
According to Proudman, the transaction was never completed or paid for, and as such, ownership of Setala Ltd (the parent company of Savage Cabbage, of which Proudman was a director) remains legally disputed.
She further contends that the company’s current filings, which list Setala as an asset of Cannim Group, are ‘misleading and inaccurate,’ arguing that the deal ‘remains an unsettled transaction with a significant pending liability.’
In tandem, she has now also lodged an application for an Unless Order with the Employment Tribunal, citing what she describes as the Respondents’ ongoing failure to comply with previous Case Management Orders. In her submission, she says the company missed deadlines to serve the agreed bundle by 22 October 2025 and has asked the Tribunal to consider further directions.
Beyond the legal issues, Proudman told Business of Cannabis that the dispute has had a devastating personal and financial impact.
She said she has spent the past year fighting to recover the unpaid sums while also contesting what she describes as her unfair dismissal in 2024 from Cannim’s UK arm, a case now listed for public hearing before the Employment Tribunal on 26 November 2025.
“I’ve been left facing bankruptcy and the potential loss of my home,” Proudman said. “It’s been an exhausting process that has affected every part of my life.”
She added that the ongoing situation had taken a toll on her health and her family, but that she remained determined to pursue the case ‘to make sure others don’t go through the same.’
Proudman has confirmed she is instructing Australian counsel to pursue related legal proceedings in parallel with the UK actions.
In her letter to administrators, she also asked that they examine whether Cannim’s directors disclosed the existence of her claim when entering into recent financing agreements.
“The administration of Cannim Group in Australia does not absolve Mr Worton of his responsibilities to the UK courts or his personal obligations under UK law,” she wrote.
Documents and correspondence cited in this article were supplied to Business of Cannabis by Ms Proudman, a party to the proceedings. The case remains before the Employment Tribunal, which has yet to make any findings.
Mr Worton declined to comment directly, citing advice from the appointed administrators. Olvera Advisors principal Rajiv Goyal, who is acting as joint administrator of Cannim Group Pty Ltd, was approached for comment. As of publication, no response had been received from Mr Goyal or Olvera Advisors. Business of Cannabis will update the story should a statement be provided.
