In July, Hastings Borough Council announced that the Source Park skatepark on the seafront was closed “until further notice” due to health and safety concerns following water ingress through the concrete structures of the promenade above. Two months on, the company which traded from the underground venue, Source BMX Limited, has gone into insolvent liquidation.

The company’s Statement of Affairs, filed by its liquidator Chris Knott earlier this month, shows an overall deficit of over £1.5m, including almost £700,000 owed to a Taiwan logistics corporation A & A Worldwide and nearly £400,000 in UK tax.

This is the second major insolvency of the Source BMX business in three years.

In September 2023, two previous companies, The Source (Hastings) Limited and The Source (Hastings) Holdings Limited were put into administration owing debts of over £10m. Their directors and shareholders, local entrepreneurs Rich and Marc Moore, bought back the business assets, including the lease of the skatepark, putting them into new companies Source BMX Limited and Wheels of Steel Holdings Limited (WoSH). Losses were largely confined to HSBC bank and another large financial investor. Trade suppliers were largely or wholly repaid from the phoenix companies in order to maintain goodwill. Employees (over 70 of them) had their contracts transferred.

The cause of the 2023 crash was put down to the after-effects of the Covid pandemic on supply chains from factories in Taiwan and mainland China, coupled with a reversal of consumer confidence as the Ukraine war took hold.

Now, three years on, Source BMX Limited has itself been forced into liquidation, this time with much wider-spread effects, including substantial losses for a number of suppliers and inevitable staff redundancies.

Rich Moore says that the company’s US arm was significantly hit by President Trump’s increased tariffs. The sudden closure of the skatepark has also resulted in significant additional costs and the loss of an important source of revenue. However, more generally, the Moores have admitted that they had overreached: “Ultimately we were carrying a cost base built for a much larger market than exists today.”

Other cycle businesses have been suffering similar financial upheavals. Major UK distributor Saddleback went into administration in May. Leading European manufacturer Accell, based in the Netherlands, filed for insolvency last month.

THE FUTURE

The Moores seem nevertheless determined to carry on. What remains of the retail business, focussed on the UK rather than internationally, has been transferred to their associate company, WoSH, which remains solvent.

“It’s obviously been a very difficult period,” says Rich, “particularly given Source’s long association with Hastings and the impact on staff, suppliers and others connected with the business. Our focus now is becoming a smaller BMX business and putting it onto a sustainable footing for the future.

“As to the skatepark, it remains closed, and the Foreshore Trust [who are the freehold owners] have the required works out to tender. We expect to open, and renew our Battle of Hastings event, in 2027.

“We’re excited about new plans, which have been in place for some time but are dependent on the works taking place to make the structure safe.”

Both the Moores and Hastings Borough Council (representing the Trust) are currently tight-lipped about their mutual contractual arrangements.

The Statement of Affairs of Source BMX shows the council as owed £33,575, but they have declined to explain what this debt represents, (whether unpaid council tax, unpaid rent or other liability). A spokesperson for the council said last week: “This is a live situation involving sensitive commercial conversations. As and when there is something we can update with, we will issue a press release or statement updating.”

Other than confirming that the Foreshore Trust is legally responsible for the structure of the skatepark and the required structural repairs, Rich Moore is equally reticent. However, he does affirm that the hospitality businesses of the Courtyard are separate from the Source BMX operation and “are not part of the liquidation”.

Within the Courtyard, the bars and restaurants may have yet to feel the full effect of the skatepark closure. One owner said last week that his business had continued to expand over the warm and dry summer, but admitted that winter will bring different trading conditions. In any event the shut-down was “a huge loss to the town”.