Organiser of gin festivals goes into administration

A SERIES of popular gin festivals have been cancelled after the organiser was placed into administration.

Insolvency practitioners from Begbies Traynor have been appointed as administrators to Gin Festival Limited, which was trading as GinFestival.com, a business based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, which organises and manages a series of craft gin festivals around the UK.

Despite Begbies Traynor marketing the company in the build up to the appointment, with the aim of finding a buyer, no offers have been forthcoming and a closure administration will take immediate effect. Julian Pitts and Nick Reed have been appointed as joint administrators.

As a result, all 27 members of staff employed by the business will be made redundant and the entire programme of 20 gin festivals planned for the coming months has been cancelled. This includes this weekend’s Gin Festival Norwich, which was sold out for three out of the four planned Friday to Sunday sessions. Julian Pitts, inset, of Begbies Traynor, said: “The loss of jobs is always extremely disappointing and in this case approximately 20,000 tickets have also been sold for forthcoming events which will not be reimbursed as part of the administration process. “Anyone who has purchased tickets for any of the events organised by GinFestival.com would be best advised to check with their credit or debit card provider as to whether they may be covered for the loss under the Chargeback system. Mr Pitts added: “Our aim was, of course, to find a purchaser for the business as a going concern in order to safeguard the jobs, but unfortunately, despite our efforts, this did not prove possible.”