Court orders former managers of Peterborough’s Broadway Theatre to pay £10k to show promoters

Lakin McCarthy Entertainment Ltd has been awarded a Count Court Judgement (CCJ) against Performance Arts Ventures CIC (PAV), the company which ran the theatre until last August.

PAV, led by Mark Ringer, who previously ran the city’s popular Willow Festival, was removed as the management company after it ran into major financial difficulties, resulting in shows being cancelled and many furious ticketholders being left out of pocket as they were not given refunds.

Peterborough City Council was also owed £68,000 in unpaid business rates.

The theatre has now been taken over by a new company - global theatre group Selladoor Worldwide - which has renamed the iconic venue the Peterborough New Theatre.

Lakin McCarthy promoted Ruby Wax’s performance at the Broadway on April 17, 2018, but claimed afterwards to be owed £10,000 by PAV.

County court documents show that PAV has now been ordered to pay £10,410 to Lakin McCarthy, which includes costs of £410. However, it is expected that it will never receive a penny unless PAV has future assets.

Warren Lakin, director at Lakin McCarthy Entertainment Ltd, said: “My level of disgust for the Broadway Theatre, and the contemptuous manner in which it has continued to treat us, other companies and former staff, is as high as it was 10 months ago when this non-payment saga began.”

The theatre in Broadway is leased by owner Rinaldo Fasulo to the Dawe Charitable Trust.

The trust previously sub-leased it to PAV before it ended the contract due to the severe money problems.

At the time Peter Dawe from the trust said contractual matters regarding the operation of the theatre were “a matter for PAV” and that the Dawe Charitable Trust was “the biggest creditor by far”.

The theatre has been dogged by financial problems for many years and, ironically, Selladoor’s interest in the Broadway was only sparked after its show Avenue Q was cancelled due to PAV’s financial struggles.

The company’s chief financial officer Phillip Rowntree acknowledged to the Peterborough Telegraph earlier this month that it would take time to restore faith in the theatre.

He stated: “It’s going to be a lot of hard work and we’re not blind to that fact.

“As a company that lost a show in this theatre - us and our stakeholders lost money that we had invested in that particular week - we have to rebuild trust.”

Chief executive David Hutchinson added: “We know by saying ‘here we are’, the person that lost money on a previous event that didn’t happen, just because we are a different face and had nothing to do with the previous operation, that’s not enough. So we do have to rebuild that trust.”

The PT has attempted to contact Mr Ringer.