Body Power Fitness Expo Event Cancellation – No Refunds Given

haywoodr

Hi,
I was wondering whether someone may be able to give some opinion or advice on this please. The May 2020 Body Power Fitness Expo Event at NEC (Birmingham) was cancelled due to COVID-19. I had paid to participate as a stall holder and as a sponsor advertising at the event. We paid 50% deposit upfront as per the Body Power Publishing Ltd Contract (the event holder). As the event got cancelled in May 2020, they have refused to offer any refunds since.

Now in their terms and conditions they do have one clause which says that if the event was to be cancelled which is beyond their control it would be their discretion as to whether on not to offer refunds and that they will continue to try and put everyone who paid their deposits for the May 2020 event on the next available event. The event was then rescheduled on October 2020 which again was cancelled due to COVID19. Again no refunds offered. They then rescheduled the event to May 2021 and again the event was cancelled due to current restrictions with COVID19. Last year in December 2020 one of their Directors emailed us to say how demand for their event is so strong and have increased their marketing activities for the May 2021 event. In March 2021 they emailed again, this time stating that demand for their event is not good and most people and sponsors are not interested anymore in the event so therefore they advised that they will not run the event in 2021 and will see in May 2022 how the situation pans out and try running the event in May 2022. Again they have refused to offer any refunds and refuse to budge on this matter.

We wrote a letter to the company expressing our concerns and the letter was returned back by Royal Mail stating that the recipient is no longer based at the address. I checked with Holly Farm Business Park and they confirmed that Body Power left their units in January 2021 and is no longer with us. This is despite in all their letters they state their address as the one is Holly Farm Business Park, Honiley (Kenilworth). Even on Companies House, their address has not been updated. Companies House have advised that they do not verify companies addresses who are listed on Companies House.

I then sent them and their Director an email expressing my concerns, and despite reading and opening my email which I got confirmation of, they did not respond back.

I was just wondering what my options are please? Is it very much a case that I have signed a contract so no way of getting anything back? I had heard that its also a question of ‘reasonableness’ even if their contract states it is their discretion whether on not to offer refunds. Where does it end given that the event has been cancelled 3 times already and now they are expecting everyone to wait until May 2022 to see what will happen then. Can they really do this? Also they have failed to give any evidence of what has happened to the funds except a few months ago one of their Directors emailed to say ‘We have spent 80% of the funds for the May 2020 Event’ but no evidence provided.

Any help and advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks.


Robert

Aylesbury_Duck

Since it was a business to business transaction, you're not covered by consumer rights.  Does your business have access to a legal helpline or legal support in any form?  As I see it, your only option is to sue the organiser for breaching the contract.

haywoodr

Thanks for the reply. No we don't currently have legal support. You mentioned about suing the organiser for breach of contract, is this possible even though they have a clause in their contract stating that it is their discretion as to whether or not to give a refund and will put everyone on their next available event?

Aylesbury_Duck

You can try, but without an registered address you won't get anywhere so tracking them down should be your priority.  As you say, if the contractual term is that they can decide whether to refund or hold the money for a deferred date, and you agreed to that term, you may not succeed.  Reading between the lines, I suspect your money has gone because it sounds like the business is in trouble, or is at least dormant at the moment.

user1977

Their last filed accounts (as at 31 May 2019) don't suggest they had any capital even then, so I doubt things will have got any better since then.

haywoodr

Thanks for the reponses. Just to add if I may, there seems to be two companies that the two Directors (Nicholas Orton and Steve Orton) are associated with so I'm not sure whether I am able to use the other company that they are linked to for small claims court purposes. 'Body Power Limited' based in Honiley, Kenilworth is one that was discussed above that are no longer based at Holly Farm Business Park (despite Companies House saying otherwise) and then there is 'Body Power Limited' in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

haywoodr

haywoodr said:

Thanks for the reponses. Just to add if I may, there seems to be two companies that the two Directors (Nicholas Orton and Steve Orton) are associated with so I'm not sure whether I am able to use the other company that they are linked to for small claims court purposes. 'Body Power Limited' based in Honiley, Kenilworth is one that was discussed above that are no longer based at Holly Farm Business Park (despite Companies House saying otherwise) and then there is 'Body Power Limited' in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

Apologises I meant one is 'Body Power Publishing Ltd' and the other one is 'Body Power Ltd'.

Aylesbury_Duck

You take action against the entity with which you have the contract.

user1977

haywoodr said:

Thanks for the reponses. Just to add if I may, there seems to be two companies that the two Directors (Nicholas Orton and Steve Orton) are associated with so I'm not sure whether I am able to use the other company that they are linked to for small claims court purposes. 'Body Power Limited' based in Honiley, Kenilworth is one that was discussed above that are no longer based at Holly Farm Business Park (despite Companies House saying otherwise) and then there is 'Body Power Limited' in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

No, the whole point of limited companies is that they're the entity responsible, you can't just start "using" another one because you think the personnel are somehow related.

haywoodr

Sure but if they have left the unit and no longer trade there, whose registered address would you use in this case (given that they are linked to another limited company)?

user1977

haywoodr said:

Sure but if they have left the unit and no longer trade there, whose registered address would you use in this case (given that they are linked to another limited company)?

Their registered office is their registered office, whether or not you think they're actually there. As a minimum, any writs etc should be sent there. You can copy it to wherever you think they might be trading from, if you think that will help get a response.