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Demise of London Pleasure Gardens leaves many in the lurch


Now having gone into administration, the ill-fated London venue has left hundreds of people unpaid, unemployed and unreimbursed.
Words /	Will Lynch
Published /	Monday, 06 August 2012 01:30 PM
Category /	Music News/ United Kingdom
Comments /	598 Comments

Following the demise of London Pleasure Gardens, which has now gone into administration, many employees and ticket-holders are feeling cruelly shortchanged.

The 20-acre venue should have been a boon to the community of Newham, bringing more than 300 jobs plus opportunities for food vendors and other tradespeople on the site. The Olympics would bring in an initial surge of business—London Pleasure Gardens is one of two exits through which spectators are directed as they leave the ExCel centre—followed by a regular stream of big events, including parties from Mulletover, secretsundaze and Cocoon. As it happened, the Olympics brought in only a fraction of the crowds expected—less than 7,000 per day by some estimates, versus the predicted 40,000—and many of the events scheduled over the next few months changed venues even before LPG went into administration.

This has left many of the site's employees in limbo. The bar staff were all made redundant last week, and now it's up to them to receive their unpaid wages from the National Insurance Fund, which doles out payments of no more than £430 per week. Lara Bishop Sharp, who supervised one of the bars, reckons that many staff are owed as much as £3,000, and not all of them (herself included) are eligible for reimbursement from National Insurance, which means they're likely to go completely unpaid. "The kids did a great job, and they were gutted to lose their jobs, and now they are stunned that they will not be getting paid for the work they have done," she says.

The fact that many staff were offered three-year contracts, and in some cases turned down other opportunities while they waited for the venue to open, compounds their frustration. "LPG was a three-year project, promising some job security for a lot of our younger folks," says Carleen Williams, whose 20-year-old daughter was among those made redundant. "They are now returning to Newham Workplace in an attempt to find jobs but being told that there is very little out there. It's a real shame."

In a statement sent out before the site was built, London Pleasure Gardens promised that "Newham residents [would] benefit more than most" from the project. The prospect of the venue boosting the local economy was part of what influenced the Newham Council's recent £3 million loan to LPG.

Meanwhile, the venue's architects have reportedly still not been paid, and most Bloc ticketholders are struggling to be reimbursed.

Some of LPG's would-be upcoming events have announced that they will go ahead, albeit at different venues. London Warehouse Events say they are homing in on a new spot for their Cocoon Heroes - Enter the Magic party in December, which features Sven Väth, Carl Craig and Cassy among others. Mulletover have also confirmed that their Halloween party will take place on the same date as originally planned but a yet-to-be-announced venue. "It's something we're use to and seems to haunt us since our beginning, another venue change!" said resident and promoter Stuart Geddes. "I'm sure it's for the best, no doubt we'll find something else and be able to provide an even better experience."

Nov 03 Mulletover Halloween 2012, Wallis Road Warehouses

Dec 01 Cocoon Heroes London...Into The Magic, The Great Suffo..

Official Site: London Pleasure Gardens

598 Comments

Demise of London Pleasure Gardens leaves many in the lurch

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Bloc organizers speak out

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sinewavewrote
Sat, 16 Feb 2013utter c/nts. i filled out the form - twice and still no f/cking refund.

mikkimostwrote
Mon, 17 Sep 2012I think they need to learn that an apology goes a long way ...this is just a load of bullshit excuses. Come on guys just admit that you fucked up BIG TIME!

princepopewrote
Wed, 12 Sep 2012I don't buy a word.
Alex Benson and George Hull should apologize ( I haven't heard anything of this kind in this 'interview') and disappear.
We (festival goers) don't need them anymore out there.

So when they say: 'We still feel that we can deliver something special to these people. We don't think this needs to be the end. We’d like people to get behind us, we hope they will.' .. I can only suggest them to, once again, DISAPPEAR.

Bevanwrote
Wed, 12 Sep 2012Just to clarify, I wasn’t comparing Bloc to WHP, I’m fully aware they are two completely different promotions! All I was saying was that, I spent a lot less money at WHP, and had one of the best nights out I’ve had in years. The music quality and progression of music all night was unreal and the sound system was one of the best i’ve heard in a venue in the UK or Europe.

This was my first Bloc and maybe I would think differently if I had been to others, but there’s not a chance I will waste... More

theelbowwrote
Tue, 11 Sep 2012Dinkystoy - totally agree with you - i havent had time to read everything above but feelings still raw about this event. BLOC should have realised LPG was a no go. If i was BLOC the sound levels restrictions would have been a no from the off - you cant have a techno festival running at half blast, doesnt work. i demand as part of my entrance fee, g'teed tinnitus for 24hrs after an event or a refund is requested. I hope BLOC come back, they will learn their lessons and be better for sure. BUT,... More

tjgimnerwrote
Mon, 10 Sep 2012Pontoon Dock, the location for Bloc 2012, is in the middle of a densely populated residential area. It is not, as some have suggested, a remote location. Hell, it's only four miles from Tower Bridge.

Strange as it might seem, quite a lot of the local populace had grave reservations about having 30,000 pill popping ravers have a no holds barred all night techno festival right outside their homes. Fears of noise, anti-social behaviour, litter, drugs, and ticket holders clogging the place up... More

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