‘Frustration’ over city zip wire refunds
THE company behind the controversial Cardiff Bay zip wire is going through an insolvency process.
Cardiff council planners had recommended the Zip Now Cardiff ride – which would have stretched from the top of St David’s Hotel to a landing site near the Norwegian Church – be allowed to go ahead despite objections from local residents.
The 350m-long attraction would have seen riders hurtling along at a height of almost 150ft and up to speeds of 59km an hour, causing many neighbours to fear both noise disturbance and an invasion to their privacy.
But then The City Zip Company Ltd, the firm behind the scheme, withdrew the plans despite having already begun selling tickets for the ride – the second time they’d done so despite permission never having been granted.
Now customers have been told the company is undergoing an insolvency process and will only refund customers who had pre-bought tickets half the original price.
The Echo has seen an email sent by the insolvency practitioner to customer Andrew Firth, who had pre-paid for tickets for the Cardiff attraction.
The email, dated April 22, said: “We have been forwarded your email details by the directors of The City Zip Company Limited as you have made advance payments for the Cardiff 2020 event which is not now proceeding and so you are an unsecured creditor of the company.
“There will be no full refund of the monies you have paid but rather the directors have put forward Proposals for a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors whereby unsecured creditors are estimated to receive a dividend on their claim of approximately 50p in the £ but this, per the terms of the Proposals, will take several years to achieve.”
Andrew said he’s been left “frustrated” after purchasing two tickets for the attraction in May 2019. He said: “They released some early-bird tickets for £25 and I bought two of those to take my wife there for our anniversary.”
Andrew said he has yet to receive a response from the insolvency practitioners who sent him the email.
Insolvency is when a company can’t afford to pay the money it owes.
An insolvent company can enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), which is a deal between an insolvent company and its creditors, according to Company Rescue.
A CVA is a legally binding agreement with a company’s creditors to allow a proportion of debts to be paid back over time. The company can still carry on trading and directors remain in control. The CVA is monitored by a supervisor and the arrangement usually lasts between three to five years.
Company Rescue says that one benefit to a CVA is that it is not publicly announced like administration.
Describing a CVA, they state: “This allows a viable but struggling company to repay some, or all, of its historic debts out of future profits, over a period of time to be agreed.”
The City Zip Company Limited is still listed as “active” on Companies House.
In November chief executive Barry Shaverin said it is still the company’s intention to resubmit the plans.
Mr Shaverin said: “We’ve withdrawn the application but it is our intention to resubmit them as soon as possible.”
He said the plans were withdrawn because the company saw an opportunity to improve them.
Mr Shaverin has been contacted for comment.