Momentous Events was contracted to deliver the UK's biggest jewellery festival and went into liquidation in December 2011 with debts of £135,756.70.
A new company, Jewellery Week Limited, was founded in November last year and is now running the festival. Its director is Della Tinsley, who was also the director of Momentous Events.
In Momentous Events' statement of affairs dated 7 December 2011, £15,636 was due to The Goldsmiths’ Company which owns Goldsmiths Hall, the main venue for London Jewellery Week for the past two years.
As reported in Event, , along with consumer show Treasure and jewellery pavilion Essence.
Other creditors listed included D&D Catering which was owed £11,046.63, graphic designer Broadbase which was owed £20,731.20 and Boss Models Management to whom a sum of £18,622.55 was due.
Event management company Beyond Certainty was owed £8,112 and £1,092 was payable to event services provider Melville. Advertising company CBS Outdoor was owed a figure of £14,279.
Insolvency practitioner Re10 is handling the company’s liquidation. It told Event on Tuesday (1 May) that no creditors had been paid a dividend to date and it was unlikely that they would be paid back.
Jewellery Week director Della Tinsley told Event major factors in the failure of Momentous Events were difficulties with the Hatton Garden Festival which was part of London Jewellery Week, and headline sponsor Coutts’ decision to pull out six months before the 2010 event.
She said new company Jewellery Week Limited is a not-for-profit organisation and directors are not being paid for their work.
In a statement at the time of liquidation, Momentous Events blamed its failure on "Losses suffered on events, the global economic crisis, unavailable public funding, slow industry participation due to difficult trading times and the inability to capitalise on confirmed sponsors due to uncertainty."
The statement went on to say: "We have been working hard to find another solution, but sadly we were not able to find a workable solution under the current structure. We are devastated about having to fold the company, and will be working hard to minimise the fall-out for any of our contractors affected.
"Momentous has maintained a high level of community involvement, providing affordable support to neighbourhood projects such as Hatton Garden Festival, subsidising events from other work streams. In this way Momentous Events has delivered its core objective of promoting and supporting the jewellery sector and allied sectors but it has proved unsustainable.
"A new company has been incorporated, Jewellery Week Limited, which will lead on promoting Jewellery Week across the county and beyond."
London Jewellery Week began in 2006 and showcases jewellery brands and designers with launches, shows, workshops and talks from leading names in the industry.
Were you involved in London Jewellery Week last year? To leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.
For more in-depth and print only industry features, showcases and interviews with world-leading brands, don't miss the next issue of Event magazine by