Big Beat not beaten just yet
Receivers at KPMG corporate recovery have received more than 250 inquiries for Big Beat, after the Glasgow-based entertainment business went into receivership last month.
Blair Nimmo, one of the receivers in the case, said the inquiries were for the whole and for parts of the business. KPMG is issuing information packs to all interested parties.
‘Trading across the group is very strong and there has been enormous support from employees, landlords, customers and suppliers,’ said Nimmo, who is head of KPMG corporate recovery in Scotland.
‘Big Beat has an attractive portfolio of businesses, each strong in its local market, and we are continuing to trade them as normal,’ he said.
He added that, due to the high level of interest, ‘my team and I are hopeful that we can effect a sale of the business, either in whole or in part, as a going concern, in due course’.
Big Beat, which operates 23 businesses, went into receivership in April, triggered by the much-publicised revocation, by Westminster City Council, of the licence of its London night club Home, in March.
The receivers claimed that the company’s trading position was ‘severely curtailed’ after the club was shut down by the council.
‘Given the investment at this location, [revocation of the public entertainment license] resulted in cash-flow difficulties across the group,’ said KPMG.At the time, the council said: ‘There was evidence of open drug-dealing at the club and the council’s licensing sub-committee was duty-bound to revoke the public entertainment licence in the interest of public safety.’
According to the council, an undercover police investigation found a dealer selling ecstasy and also uncovered evidence of dealers offering free drugs.Home eventually won its license back in April, one week after the receivers were appointed.
‘Strict new operating procedures have been agreed with the club to minimise the risk of drug misuse. We are reassured by the stringent new searching procedures and much more vigilant security,’ said the council.
According to a KPMG spokesman, Home has not re-opened and receivers are said to be considering their options. The club is currently being marketed for sale by surveyors Davis Coffer Lyons, on behalf of KPMG.
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