Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury Fields Forever festival leaves debts of £462,000

Shrewsbury Fields Forever music festival left debts of almost £500,000, figures released today reveal.

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Ticket holders, ticket agents, artists and promoters are among those owed money by Forever Invasion Ltd, which traded as Shrewsbury Fields Forever Festival.

Creditors attended a meeting organised by liquidator Irwin Insolvency and attended by festival organiser Dene Edwards. Mr Edwards disclosed the company owed £462,621 to a number of people and businesses.

The festival was due to be staged in the town's Quarry in July, with the Happy Mondays headlining. Due to 'technical issues' the event was postponed and rescheduled to take place on the weekend of September 17.

But just six weeks before it was due to take place the festival, which was also set to feature Wretch 32, Dizzie Rascal and Netsky, was cancelled and Mr Edwards called in the liquidators.

The event was called off after Shrewsbury Town Council withdrew its permission for it to be held at the Quarry after Mr Edwards failed to provide a number of assurances.

Mr Edwards said it was "disappointing and heartbreaking" that liquidators had been called in.

He said: "The deficiency relates to an amount of investment from our side. The liquidators are working on it and are trying to get the figure as low as possible. If the event had gone ahead then we would not be in this position. The majority of the money owed is owed to the organisers of the event rather than to external people."

Gerald Irwin, who is acting as liquidator, said: "I think it is fair to say that one of the creditors was somewhat critical of the director as regards why the event had been cancelled by Shrewsbury Town Council.

"The creditor suggested that the director had failed to effectively communicate with Shrewsbury Town Council and this had resulted in its decision to cancel the event. Mr Edwards, however, disputed this."

In a statement of affairs provided by Mr Edwards, he claimed the figure owed had been "over stated" as several claims may have been duplicated.

Mr Irwin added: "Individuals who had purchased advance tickets were listed but these may also be included in global claims by the relevant ticket sale agents.

"Also the balance of fees due to artists, that were booked to appear, had been included and it was questioned whether, under actual contractual terms and conditions, if these debts were in fact still due. The director, however, pointed out that these had been included in order to disclose a 'worst case scenario' rather than an increased deficiency being disclosed subsequently."

A ticket agent acting as the official outlet for the Shrewsbury Fields Forever music festival is among those left thousands of pounds out of pocket.

Preston-based Skiddle said it cannot issue refunds after the festival was cancelled and Forever Invasion Ltd started the process of liquidation.

"In a statement, it said: "This is very unfortunate and has resulted in large losses for both Skiddle and our customers."

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