Published
Wed, Dec 2, 2015, 13:17
- Up to 24 staff are likely to lose their jobs as a result of the company's collapse.
The Elastic Artists booking agency remains on the verge of administration, with some artists unpaid for four weeks and many agents leaving the company.
Figures on the Companies House website shed light on Elastic Artists' financial situation. The figures, which are 18 months old, show that it had debts of £147,000 and made a loss of £7,000 in the financial year ending May 2014. UK bankruptcy laws mean that the artists would only be paid once outstanding taxes, staff wages and banks had been paid money owed. Up to 24 staff are likely to lose their jobs as a result of the company's collapse.
Last week it emerged that the London-based company was on the verge of entering administration. That remains the case. Elastic Artists is yet to issue a formal statement on the situation. One artist who was signed to Elastic Artists, but has since left for another agency, told RA: "They have not sent us any official information or issued any kind of apology. I'm now entering the fourth week of not being paid."
Many artists have moved on to other agencies. Some of Elastic's agents have moved on too, joining agencies like Earth and Backroom Entertainment. One former Elastic Artists agent, Benjamin Coghill, has started up his own agency, Field Artists.
Manchester collective Levelz, who were signed to Elastic Artists, posted a mock video on YouTube (which has since been taken down) in which they pretended to kidnap Elastic Artists' creative director and hold him to ransom. Last night Levels also hijacked the Elastic Artists Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages. When contacted by RA, Elastic Artists director Jon Slade confirmed that a police investigation into the Levelz video was being launched but declined to comment further.