Gatecrasher close gates on repayments

The collapse of megaclub company Gatecrasher is going to leave 230 creditors with losses, after the company was taken into a totally legal flatpack insolvency. The Birmingham Post explains:

A progress report into the ‘pre-pack’ administration of the Birmingham-based nightclub group reveals that 233 creditors have been left out of pocket to the tune of £2,081,840.

The report, by administrators Duff and Phelps, said: “Based upon the current information available, there will be insufficient realisations to enable a distribution to the non-preferential unsecured creditors of the companies.”

The cash blow for creditors comes six months after Broad Street-based Gatecrasher went bust when its owners piled up multi-million pound debts.
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A statement last year from Gatecrasher managing director Simon Raine said: “Substantial external equity funding is in place to allow the immediate progression of Gatecrasher’s expansion plans.

“Critically we have a new direction and will return to producing the global events and festivals that originally made the brand a worldwide clubbing phenomenon.”

But an unnamed creditor owed several thousands of pounds told the Post: “Some of the DJs, for example, are owed thousands. They kept saying ‘the cheque is in the post’ but it never arrived.

“Loads of people have been affected by this. I definitely would not work for these people again – the thing that is really annoying is that they can just walk away from their obligations, leaving all those people out of pocket.

“And the sad thing is that the law is on their side. Millions have been written off and it makes you sick.”

There's a support group for those who've lost out on Facebook; Birmingham University's Guild of Students are advising their members to avoid working with the "new" Gatecrasher.