EXCLUSIVE Vinnie Jones' firm which 'kept him going' following tragic death of beloved wife Tanya and boasted Bradley Cooper and Robbie Williams as customers went bust with £270K debt
The former footballer and actor, 60, swapped Hollywood for flogging carpets when he started Deacon Jones Fine Flooring Ltd in 2016 with fitter mate Danny Deacon.
Vinnie previously shared how the business had 'kept him busy' amid his grief following the tragic death of beloved wife Tanya from cancer in 2019 aged just 53.
According to The Sun the company boasted famous customers like of stars Bradley Cooper, Robbie Williams and Ronnie Wood.
Vinnie's sporting connections also come in handy since he has also reportedly supplied the likes of cricket star Kevin Pietersen and former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho with new carpets.
But the firm was put into a creditor's voluntary liquidation three years ago after racking up massive losses during Covid.
According to its statement of affairs, it owed trade creditors £122,920, the bank £50,000, HMRC £8,121, and the directors £90,182 - including £66,962 which Vinnie put in himself.
The firm was finally dissolved on 26 June this year.
After paying liquidator fees and other expenses, there was just £19,913 left for creditors - all of which went to the taxman.
MailOnline have contacted Vinnie's representatives for comment.
Speaking about how the business was vital during the loss of his wife he told Yahoo News in 2023: 'I've got my wooden flooring company, Deacon Jones, which is doing great, so I'm keeping busy.
'I have to go with the flow and accept it will take time to come to terms with my grief. There's no point in fighting it.'
When the company was first set up, Vinnie told The Sun about his role as the salesman and to give back to his roots, as he was born in nearby Watford.
He told the publication: 'We have super tough carpets and that's where we will use my hard man image'.
But the firm was put into a creditor's voluntary liquidation three years ago after racking up massive losses during Covid
I'm very proud of my roots and I want to show that. It's important to me to create jobs in the area. I want to give back to the community I came from.'
While business partner Danny told Hemel Gazette at the time how Vinnie was very down to earth.
'We were talking about life on the way back to the club and he just said "Let's go into business, 50-50", he explained.
'Vinnie's just as you would expect, hard but fair, absolutely no-nonsense, but very generous.'
The former Chelsea star swapped the football pitch for film sets in 1998 when he was cast as a mob enforcer in Guy Ritchie flick Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
He has since graced the silver screen in the likes of Gone in 60 Seconds and X-Men: The Last Stand and most recently's Ritchie's Netflix hit series The Gentleman.
Vinnie, who had been married to Tanya for 25 years when she tragically died, Vinnie previously spoke of how he throws himself into work and has sought help from a psychologist to try and not feel like he is ' drowning' in his own despair.
'[Grief] is a ghost, it's a blanket. It wraps around you and it pulls you down. You don't know when it's going to happen, why it happens. It just happens,' he told Stuff.
'You've got to try and get your head above water, breathe in as long as you can because you know you're going to be pulled under again.
'You got to give people what they want, or you f*****g drown. It's f*****g exhausting [Sometimes I want to] build a 50 foot wall around to keep everybody out and keep me in... My spirit may be broken inside, but I think I've got enough knowledge and enough experience to cope with it.'
The actor previously wrote a book about his experiences, Lost Without You: Loving And Losing Tanya.
In 2013, they were both diagnosed with melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer which kills around 2,000 people every year in the UK, and fought it together, getting the all-clear two years later. However, the disease would later return for Tanya.
Vinnie has blamed his outdoor lifestyle for the cancer - aggravated by his move to Los Angeles with Tanya to pursue his film career - while he claimed her cancer was triggered by drugs she took since having a heart transplant in her early 20s.
The couple met aged 12 before exchanging vows in 1994, with the actor previously admitting on Piers Morgan's Life Stories that he will never remarry.
A recovering alcoholic, Vinnie is now a decade sober.
He previously described the heartbreaking story of how Tanya learned her cancer had spread to her brain in a phone call at their home in Palm Springs on Christmas Eve while they had 15 or so family members round for Christmas.
It was the moment they realised 'it's beat us', he said, but Tanya was determined to have 'the best Christmas ever' so kept it secret from everyone. 'The bravery of her is unfathomable,' Jones added. 'All's she wanted to do was please people.'
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