Our big day is ruined
COUPLE FORCED TO PAY OUT FOR NEW VENUE
A COUPLE’S plans for a dream wedding were left in tatters when the venue for their big day went into administration.
Tracey Law and Luke Lodge were due to marry at Pennine Manor Hotel, Scapegoat Hill, in June.
The Kirkburton pair had been engaged for eight years and had worked overtime and finally saved up enough money for the occasion.
They paid nearly £2,100 towards the £4,800 cost of the wedding.
So Tracey and Luke, who booked the hotel 18 months ago, were concerned to hear Pennine Manor’s parent company had gone into administration.
The hotel was part of the Northern Powerhouse Developments empire which collapsed following an undercover investigation by ITV and The Guardian which raised questions about what had happened to millions of pounds of private investors’ savings.
Tracey cancelled the function after the hotel and its administrators said it could no longer guarantee their booking. The hotel could be sold or closed down in the interim, administrators Duff and Phelps have said.
And the couple were left distraught when Tracey was told £1,590 of her deposit, paid to the previous company, could not be returned.
To avoid postponing their nuptials any further Tracey, Luke and their families have scraped £1,400 together towards a smaller wedding at Bagden Hall Hotel, near Scissett, on the same date.
And Luke’s sister, Alycia, has even set up a JustGiving page to raise some extra money towards the £3,500 total.
Tracey, an auxiliary nurse, said: “Me and my partner have been together 12 years. We have been waiting eight years to get married and Pennine Manor was supposed to be our dream venue.
“My sister-in-law has made us a GoFund page just to help us out to make our wedding day possible, but we still have a lot left to pay on the new venue at Bagden Hall and it is so upsetting that we have been left feeling this way.
The mum-of-two added: “We hope our dream wedding day will come and ... all we can do is stay hopeful and optimistic that it will happen.”
Tracey added: “It’s not fair that we have worked so hard to fund our venue to be told that they can not guarantee that it can go ahead. To me, the trust of the venue has let us down.”
Pennine Manor Hotel Ltd is currently under the care of administration firm Duff and Phelps and room and event booking “are being honoured”, according to Duff and Phelps.
Duff and Phelps said in a statement: “This guest had paid the company (Pennine Manor Hotel Ltd) the sum of £1,590 as a deposit in relation to her wedding (overall cost being £4,800). The sum of £1,590 was paid to the company prior to our appointment and the company did not maintain a separate account ring-fencing customers’ deposits.
“She subsequently paid the sum of £500 to the administrators shortly after our appointment. However, as we cannot guarantee that the wedding will take place as it is scheduled to take place in June, 2020 (as the administrators may either sell the hotel and the purchaser may decide not to honour performance or the administrators may have to shut down the hotel) consequently the guest decided to cancel the booking.
“Our agent, Assured Hotels (a hotel management company), has explained to the guest that the sum of £500 will be refunded to her by the administrators; however, her claim for the initial deposit of £1,590 will rank as an unsecured claim in the administration of Pennine Manor Hotel Ltd.”