Cambridge Folk Festival takes ticket company to High Court

Cambridge Folk Festival organisers the Cambridge City Council are taking a ticket company to court for non-payment of money owed from £646,000 of revenue through internet ticket sales.

The Council are having to take legal action to try and recover £618,000 of revenue that SecureTicket UK, the firm that were contracted to sell Cambridge Folk Festival tickets over the internet last year, hasn't paid.

eFestivals spoke exclusively to the leader of Cambridge City Council Ian Nimmo-Smith who said: "We appointed a firm called SecureTicket UK in December 2007 to sell tickets for the 2008 Folk Festival. This followed a competitive tendering process. The company sold tickets for the Folk Festival in 2007, and there was no problem with outstanding money then. They won the tender from scratch in a new re-tendering process. They were due to pay in August and the sum owing to us is £618,000, and that's after you subtract their fee which is in the order of £28,000."

The money from last year's ticket sales has never materialised, and SecureTicket UK have given no satisfactory reason why they haven't been paid. Mr Nimmo-Smith explained, "We have been in contact with them frequently over the whole period, there has been a variety of scenarios relating to re-financing operations that they were undertaking, on the basis of which payment would then be forthcoming."

However the company have given no reason as to why they needed to re-finance to the City Council, and Mr Nimmo-Smith was given no explanation as where the money had gone. "They clearly had it, but there has been no details about what actually happened to the money, it was supposed to be put into a client account which was separate from anything else, according to the contract."

eFestivals asked Mr Nimmo-Smith what advice he gave to other events currently having their tickets sold through SecureTicket UK. He responded, "Until we knew what the basis of their failure to pay us is, we have not wanted to warn off others. However, we feel we have given them (SecureTicket UK) a fair chance, and we have tried our best to contact the people responsible."

Mr Nimmo-Smith also suggested that Cambridge folk Festival was not the only event who had not been paid. "We are going to court to secure a winding up operation and this will obviously impact on people who are currently trading with them. I know that we have been in discussion with another promoter who I have reason to believe also has sums of money owing."

Therefore, the council has now announced it will be taking legal action to recover the sum. "Essentially we have given them (SecureTicket UK) extensive opportunity to remedy the matter in a direct way without this, the adverse consequences of seeking remedy through the High Court. But we have no other course of action."

The City Council has also appointed an external investigator to review the safeguards and checks that were in place when the Council went about the procurement of the tender. There is also a review under way to determine whether the Council have acted in a timely and effective way in terms of trying to recover the money that was owing. The High Court will hear the case on Tuesday 21st January.

eFestivals has contacted SecureTicket UK who said there was no one available for comment.

Internet ticket sales for the Folk Festival in 2009 is now in-house. Cambridge Folk Festival has a prestigious reputation for quality music in intimate surroundings which means that tickets always sell out very quickly. The music is much more than traditional folk.

The line-up for the festival which takes place from Thursday 30th July until Sunday 2nd August 2009 has yet to be announced.

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