Scale of Camden Crawl collapse revealed

13 August 2014 - News

THE COMPANY behind north London’s ill-fated multi-venue Camden Crawl (CC) collapsed with debts of more than £100,000 following the failure of this year’s event, it can be revealed.

Branded CC14, the festival was held from 20-21 June but poor ticket sales led to promoter Crawl Promotions (CP) going into liquidation last month (see LIVE UK issue 174), leaving artistes and venues unpaid.

Publicly-available documents from liquidator Nicholas Barnett of insolvency specialist Libertas Associates show Crawl Promotions Ltd (CPL) owed a total of £165,105, with £58,501 in assets available for preferential creditors.

Headliner artistes ABC are owed £14,400, with other acts including Montreal’s Kevin Barnes (£7,000), Yuck (£6,000), Steve Mason (£4,200), Hot Chip’s Alex Spargo (£3,065.10) Mouse on Mars and Lauren Halo (both £2,800), Au Revoir Simone (£2,500) and Atari Teenage Riot (£1,750).

Dozens of artistes are owed sums between £50 and £2,000, with other creditors including wristband supplier ID&C (£1,911.54), Hull-based ticketing company SECUREticket (£2,280) and freelance graphic and web designer Craig Gell (£3,167).

Camden venues to be hit include the Electric Ballroom (owed £6,186), Koko (£5,306.40) and the Roundhouse (£1,080).

The festival’s founder and sole CPL director and shareholder Lisa Paulon is herself owed £6,000, according to the documents.

Paulon issued a statement saying ticket sales had fallen “far short of expectations”, leaving CPL “unable to pay its debts in full to any suppliers, staff or the company’s directors and shareholders”, a situation she described as “completely unanticipated”.

Launched in 1995, Camden Crawl originally took place in the autumn before moving to May. It switched back to October in 2013 and then to summer this year. “I think it flopped due to bad timing and spreading out over too many venues,” one venue insider tells LIVE UK.

Amy Winehouse, Adele and Florence + The Machine are among acts to have been showcased during the event’s history. Three years ago Paulon launched sister event Camden Crawl Dublin, which was last held in 2013.

This article first appeared in Live UK. Used with permission.