Yet another blow for British-based pro races as the owner of the Women's Tour and organiser of the Tour of Britain, SweetSpot, has entered liquidation. The news reported in the Guardian by Jeremy Whittle via an interview with chief executive Hugh Roberts is that the promoter has appointed KRE corporate recovery to deal with its creditors after entering voluntary liquidation, with liabilities likely to extend significantly past £1m.
[Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com]
British Cycling had rescinded the group's naming rights to the Tour of Britain due to a dispute over unpaid fees, claimed to be in the region of £750,000, while there has also been a suggestion of legal action from the Isle of Wight's council following the cancellation of the final stages in 2022 due to the death of the Queen.
Chief exec Roberts also admitted the estimated £1m outstanding debt could be higher, with a creditors list including local police forces and in-race service suppliers.
[Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com]
"Liquidation started to become a possibility back in July," Roberts said, suggesting that spiralling costs, the impact of Covid cancelling races, the Queen's death cancelling stages, and British Cycling's stance on the fees dispute had all contributed.
"Because we were already under a lot of pressure financially with the Tour of Britain. There was a potential title sponsor keen to be involved, with the men's Tour and the women's Tour, so we went ahead with the race, because that encouraged other sponsors to get involved."
Nothing came from those negotiations, creating a "real struggle".
"The reality of us having to decide to do what has actually happened came into focus," he said. "It's the end of an era. It's 20 years of hard work that have come to this. We have been fighting so many headwinds for the last three or four years, that it's come to the point where we really can't carry on in the current climate and the current business environment that we find ourselves in.
"The conditions that were set for us to extract ourselves from the position with British Cycling were too onerous. British Cycling wanted to still receive the full licence fee that they felt they were due in 2022. Despite the Queen dying in the middle of the race and all our other partners showing a little bit of financial sympathy to us they were insisting that the fee they felt they were owed should be paid in full.
"That, along with Covid, with not having a race from September 2019 to September 2021, the debt taken on board to keep the whole thing afloat. Local council bankruptcies, belt-tightening all over the place – that does not augur well for events that rely on government support.
"British Cycling say they have a plan [for the men's Tour of Britain] but I don’t know what it is. There was no room to negotiate. We were not even given the grounds to appeal."
British Cycling said it is "making every possible effort to ensure that the Tour of Britain and a UCI Women's World Tour stage race take place in 2024 and beyond, and will be in a position to provide further details in the coming weeks".