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Music Festivals Group calls in administrators
Indie | Tuesday 25th September 2012 | Osh
The firm behind Hop Farm and Benicassim Festivals has called it a day, citing inclement weather, competition from other festivals and the presence of global interest events attracting attention.
The company, run by Mean Fiddler’s Vince Power, the self-styled “king of gigs”, has seen its shares frozen having been in free-fall since June, when the firm was valued at nearly £10 million. Music Festivals Group is now valued at around 3.1 per cent of that total, with shares finally suspended when they were worth just over 2p. With so many events going on in the festival season, the lack of profits has forced ticket prices upwards dramatically, putting off many potential buyers. The group were looking for financial rescue as early as August, and investors were hard to come by due to unpromising signs concerning ticket sales to earlier festivals like Reading.
Additionally, the presence of the London Olympics and free events such as Radio 1’s Big Weekend, have seen former festival goers seeking their entertainment elsewhere. On an individual note, Hop Farm Festival has had its name muddied by high-profile last-minute cancellations, including Leonard Cohen this year. The festival itself made a loss, which in no way helped Music Festivals Group. Recession in Spain meant that the Benicassim Festival was nowhere near as profitable as last year, despite headline performances from The Stone Roses and Florence + the Machine. Additionally, it seems that the poor weather over the festival period – I can attest to that, Download was almost a washout – has had a dramatic effect on ticket sales. Nobody wants to go camping in a swamp.
This was supposed to be Vince Power’s big return to the public sphere, having sold Mean Fiddler in 2005 for £38 million. No administrator has been formally chosen, so the extent to which Music Festivals Group is in trouble is currently unclear. Having originally stated that he would never come back to the markets, it is probable that Power is somewhat regretting his decision reversal.
By Dave Rees
