Azur Closure
The Azur Marina Pavilion has been closed to all customers and hirers since 29 January following an agreed out-of-court settlement between the leaseholder company Azur Events Limited and its landlord Sea Change Sussex.
Sea Change had approved an assignment of the lease to Azur Events in 2016 despite its sole director David Thorpe-Tracey presiding over two previous periods of tenure which each ended in company insolvency – of Lightening Leisure Limited in 2011, then Azur Marina Limited in 2016.
By 2019 Azur Events, too, appeared in financial trouble, unable to pay the rent for the premises, which by that time had risen to £90,000 per year, or to comply with repairing covenants. There was roof damage and increasing dilapidation. But when Sea Change eventually brought a winding-up petition in the High Court, the leasehold company counterclaimed, alleging that there had been mis-accounting and that a potential insurance claim had been pursued inadequately by Sea Change and/or by the freeholder, Hastings Borough Council.
Eleven months after the first court hearing in this dispute, Sea Change have accepted a surrender of the lease and taken back possession of the building. Their spokesperson has said that they will commission surveys to assess its condition and to identify any works necessary. They will then put the venue on the market to seek a suitable operator “so it can be re-opened for the local community as soon as possible”.
Yoga classes and other hirers of the premises won’t be able to use the building in the short term. Sea Change are holding open the prospect of their return, however, “as soon as possible”.
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