Company shut down after customers lose £230,000 on promise of 'heavily discounted' hospitality tickets to F1 at Silverstone
A company has been shut down by the Government, after customers did not receive their ‘heavily discounted’ hospitality tickets to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Informa Expo Ltd claimed the packages for this year’s race at Silverstone had become available due to a cancellation and were advertised to prospective clients at a heavily discounted price.
According to the Government’s Insolvency Service, customers who paid for the tickets were unable to contact Informa Expo due to its phone and email contacts being taken down. The Insolvency Service launched an investigation into the company and identified losses to customers of approximately £230,000.
Informa Expo, which traded under the banner of Informa Hospitality Group, was shut down during a hearing at the High Court in Manchester on Wednesday (November 13).
David Usher, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Informa Expo never had the rights to hospitality packages for this year’s British Grand Prix. This did not stop it, however, from scamming businesses out of significant sums of money.
“This is the third company claiming to sell hospitality packages for high-profile sporting events we have successfully applied to have wound-up in the last year.
“We will not tolerate companies acting in such an objectionable manner which is clearly not in the public interest and we will continue to take robust action if we uncover evidence of similar wrongdoing from other businesses.”
Insolvency Service investigations and found no evidence of any legitimate trading by the company.
Investigators spoke to the sole hospitality provider for the British Grand Prix, which confirmed it had served a cease-and-desist letter on Informa Expo for its unauthorised advertising and sale of hospitality.
Investigators also visited Informa Expo’s alleged City Tower office address on New York Street in Manchester city centre. They were informed that Informa Expo had no presence or right to occupy that office address.
Attempts to contact current and previous directors of Informa Expo were unsuccessful and the company failed to provide its books and records to the Insolvency Service as it was required to do.
The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of the company.