Ratheesan arrived in the UK aged 15, his family having taken refuge from Sri Lanka's civil war.

At ICS, he made friends with two other Tamil colleagues who eventually became his business partners. Rasiah Ranjith Leon had worked in Norway and Baskaran Kandiah hailed from the Netherlands. Lebara – a combination of their names Leon, Baskaran and Ratheesan – was from its beginning in 2001 a European concept.

The sticking point is that the founders want out so that they can take up charitable work full-time. Buyers are not sure Lebara can thrive without their expertise. The links to thousands of sole traders around Europe would be hard to replace. Vodafone has already withdrawn from the sale, having submitted an early low offer for part of the business. The few remaining buyers are being asked to meet management to see whether they could be persuaded to stay on.