In early September, Insomnia 73 would have taken place, giving a space for fans of gaming, esports and cosplaying to enjoy a weekend of fun for all ages. Instead, there was no event and companies continue to wait for debts to be paid from its previous edition.
Although the company behind the Insomnia gaming festival, Player1 Events, has paid back many freelancers from i72, Esports Insider has been informed that the company still owes over £500,000 to various businesses that were involved.
According to sources, Player1 Events recently made an offer to the companies that still have debt yet to be paid from the previous Insomnia events. The offer that the debtors received amounted to 10.27 pence on the pound. As a result, video production service High Viz Media Ltd, which told Esports Insider that it was owed £34,213.80, would only be paid back £3513.76.
Some of the other companies that have disclosed to Esports Insider how much money is owed include production company Protec European Events (owed £71,011) as well as events management companies Emblem Events & Exhibitions (owed £70,543) and Five Star Crew Company (owed £20,830).
The offer by Player1 Events has since been rejected and, according to sources, Player1 Events is once again going into a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL). Previously Player1 Events decided not to go ahead with the CVL and instead entered Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) where it attempted to come to an agreement with its business creditors to pay back the money that is owed.
The difference is that a CVL is a form of liquidation where the company ceases to trade, and its assets are sold to repay creditors.
How Insomnia Gaming Festival got to this point
The problem occurred after i72 which took place from March 29th to April 1st when contractors began to realise that the deadline for payments set out by Player1 Events had been missed by two weeks.
Some began to speak out publicly and shortly after a report from Esports News UK revealed that the entire staff of Player1 Events had been laid off. Esports Insider understands that Player1 Events then contacted Begbies Traynor to enter CVL, but changed the plan deciding to enter CVA. During this time Esports Insider reported on the £8m debt that the company found itself in.
Since then Player1 Events has paid off the debts with the freelancers, had its CVA rejected by the creditors and are now entering CVL in order to pay back the debts it currently owes.
Another notable development is that Paul Wedgewood, CEO of Player1 Events, has appointed a new Director of the business named Michael Virks.
As of this writing, the companies that are still owed now wait for the CVL to occur so that creditors can see some sort of reparations for Insomnia 72.
Esports Insider has reached out to Paul Wedgwood for comment on the situation and will update the article if additional information is provided.
