Rebranded Cirata; trades on London's AIM following a fabricated-sales fraud in 2023
The rise & fall
8 moments Β· 2005β2023
The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
2005
π±
2005
Founded
David Richards' distributed-computing firm replicates live data across data centers, with roots in Silicon Valley and Sheffield.
Wikipedia
2021
π¦
2021
Joins the unicorn club
The Sheffield-born data-replication firm's AIM shares carry it past a $1B value.
BusinessCloud
2023
π
2023
The peak: Β£1bn ahead of a US listing$1.2B
Market cap nears Β£1bn (~$1.2B) in early 2023 on huge reported contract wins, as WANdisco plans a New York dual listing.
Yorkshire Post
Mar 2023
Mar 2023
Trading halted: the bookings were fake
A senior salesperson had fabricated purchase orders β roughly $115M of bookings weren't real, and 2022 bookings restate from $127M to about $11M.
AccountingWEB
Jul 2023
π
Jul 2023
Slips out of the club
Shares resume at about 50p, down from 1,310p β roughly 93% of the value gone on one disclosure.
Yorkshire Post
2023
π¬
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2023
Glassdoor reviews captured the whiplash inside: employees who had raved about the four-day-week culture described being stunned that one salesperson's fabrications β and thin sales oversight β could do so much damage, then layoffs and, for a time, real doubt the business would pull through.
2023
2023
Emergency cash and a new name: Cirata
A rescue fundraise keeps the lights on; the WANdisco name is retired and the micro-cap carries on.
BusinessCloud
π¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
WANdisco was a British data-replication software firm on London's AIM whose shares neared a Β£1bn (~$1.2B) value in early 2023 ahead of a planned US dual listing. The boom evaporated when it discovered a senior sales employee had fabricated purchase orders β 2022 bookings restated from $127M to about $11M β and the suspended stock collapsed from 1,310p to around 50p when trading resumed in July. It raised emergency funding and rebranded as Cirata.
Source: BusinessCloud / AccountingWEB / Yorkshire Post (UK data-replication software on London's AIM; market cap neared Β£1bn (~$1.2B) in early 2023 ahead of a planned US listing; a senior salesperson faked ~$115M of bookings; shares suspended Mar 2023, resumed Jul 2023 down from 1,310p to ~50p; rebranded Cirata)
Founders
David Richards
Co-founder & CEO (until 2023)
Now Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Yorkshire AI Labs LLP Β· LinkedIn β
