Azur Time Goes By: A Financial History
In 2004 the Marina Pavilion, then a sun lounge and café on the lower promenade of St Leonards seafront opposite the Royal Victoria Hotel, had been abandoned by previous owners for at least a year and was in a poor state of repair.
In that year, Hastings and Bexhill Renaissance Limited (trading as Sea Space) obtained planning permission from Hastings Borough Council in that year to redevelop the site by building a single-storey structure above it on the upper promenade. This scheme added a restaurant and ancillary kitchen at the higher level. At the same time the lounge was refurbished to provide a conference centre and other function rooms.
Permission was granted against considerable opposition from English Heritage and local conservationists, concerned at the visual impact on the nearby listed buildings of Burton St Leonards.
Sea Space took a long lease from Hastings Borough Council, which is the freehold owner, and financed the redevelopment with public ‘regeneration’ funds reported as totalling over £1.946m – £1.713m from SEEDA (the South-East England Development Agency) plus £233,000 from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund).
First and second underleases
In 2008 Sea Space underlet the premises to a company Lightening Leisure Limited (LLL) under the direction of co-shareholders David Thorpe-Tracey and Allison Luzar, who introduced the Azur branding. Within a year Mr Thorpe-Tracey bought a majority shareholding in LLL, and he became sole director from December 2009. In 2012 the company was dissolved owing £345,000 to Sea Space plus approximately £280,000 to HMRC in unpaid PAYE, NIC and VAT.
A fresh company Azur Marina Limited formed by Mr Thorpe-Tracey and his new partner Dean Williamson was offered a replacement underlease by Sea Space with a term of 65 years from May 2011. Their new company accepted full repairing obligations and liability to pay an initial rent of £50,000 per annum, raised on review to £60,000.
Once again Mr Thorpe-Tracey was appointed as sole director and in 2012/13 he largely bought out Mr Williamson’s shares. In October 2014 the superior lease was passed from Sea Space to a freshly formed ‘regeneration’ company East Sussex Energy Infrastructure and Development Limited (trading as Sea Change, later Sea Change Sussex) at a price of £500,000.
By 2016, however, Azur Marina too was hopelessly insolvent. Its winding up in July of that year left unsecured creditors owed £312,500, including £132,000 to British Gas and £112,500 to Sea Change.
Third time round
It might be imagined that by this time the management of Sea Change would steer away from further dealings with any company owned or directed by Mr Thorpe-Tracey. But, no, a third company of which Mr Thorpe-Tracey was (or would shortly become) sole director and majority shareholder, Azur Events Limited, was approved by Sea Change to take over the lease.
The eventual final report of the liquidation of Azur Marina referred to “an investigation into the conduct of the Company’s Director” and to a resulting “confidential” report submitted by the joint liquidators to the Insolvency Service in September 2016, which has never been revealed. But Azur Events, under Mr Thorpe-Tracey’s direction, has continued to have full charge of the business, though not, according to Sea Change’s spokesperson (see page 1), making full rent payments nor, from casual observation, maintaining its obligations to repair and decorate.
The balance sheet of the last filed company accounts of Azur Events shows net liabilities as a little under £42,000.
Sea Change has not disclosed the amount of debt on which its winding-up petition for hearing on 1 March is based nor whether there are any other creditors who may be seeking joinder.
Read about the Azur’s precarious future here.
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