The organisers of Doune the Rabbit Hole 2022 have been accused of an 'insult' to unpaid artists after the company responsible for paying outstanding money went into liquidation.

The Stirling festival ran from July 14 to 17 last year, but it emerged in October that a number of performers had still not been paid.

Organisers blamed "supply chain issues" and assured "signs are very positive this will be resolved soon".

This week though Doune The Rabbit Hole Festival Ltd entered liquidation after suffering “huge financial difficulty”.

Festival Beverage and Property Services, organisers for the 2023 festival, have "pledged" to make any outstanding payments, with tickets already on sale for next year's edition.

A spokesperson for Doune the Rabbit Hole said: "Festival Beverage and Property Services Ltd are committed to sustaining Doune The Rabbit Hole Festival as the most likely long-term way of repaying these debts. Whilst working towards this, the company intends to seek new investment and develop new income streams in order to expedite payments to crew, artists and suppliers where possible. This will include sale of assets and a crowdfunding campaign."

However, the Scottish Live Events Network have urged those in the industry and fans to be careful about working with the organisers.

A statement said: "Recently Scottish Live Events Network contacted Alan Govan about some of our members outstanding invoices from both this and last year's Doune The Rabbit Hole. In his response Alan assured us that he was intending to pay everybody, that they were just waiting on money being gifted to them and that they were holding off on advertising ticket sales for next year until the invoices for this year were paid. It was very similar to the emails everyone else had with a long list of excuses but no real time scale for making payment.

"We now learn that the company has been liquidated, a new one has sprung up in its place and that early bird tickets are being advertised. BECTU has contacted Alan Govan about this move and is pursuing them for monies owed to members.

"This is quite simply an insult to everyone who is owed money for this event. We would advise anyone who gets the notice of liquidation through to put in a claim, something is always better than nothing.

"We have highlighted DTRH’s failure to pay its debts to Event Scotland, Creative Scotland, and the Scottish Government and are lobbying them to introduce more cohesive standards and communication across the events licensing system and for both Scot Gov and local authorities to be more aware of promoters' financial histories and their ability and willingness to pay their bills before granting them a licence. This proposal has been met with interest and we hope to move forward with this at the start of 2023. We are also lobbying Stirling Council not to grant any further licences to this event until all debts have been paid.

"We will also be speaking to the local councils who gave out the licences this year to a number of events which have not paid their bills and pushing them to be more stringent in their decision making. We will also be putting in objections for any licence application that comes for an organiser who is known for not paying. If anyone has any information which they think might help either now or in the future please get in touch.

"From just two promoters alone over two years we estimate that over a quarter of a million pounds has been removed from the supply chain because of production companies and artists not getting paid. Also a lot of people bought tickets to see bands which they did not get to see because of what we believe to be very shady business practices. It cannot be allowed to continue.

"We would ask all suppliers, production companies, self employed etc. to consider very carefully before working with some of these organisers. If they haven't paid the previous companies they employed then exactly what assurances does anyone have that they would get paid. Make sure you get at least a 50% deposit at time of booking and the rest before the doors open. If they can’t pay you by then it’s very possible they won’t pay you at all. If any members are having problems getting paid, then Bectu has a monies owed service, where they will help chase members unpaid invoices and offer legal advice should it need to go to the small claims court.

"BECTU also operate an 'ask first' list for members which identifies Companies that have failed to meet their contractual obligations to members. Members should contact BECTU first for further info if they are offered work by anyone on the Ask First list."

A spokesperson for organisers FBPS said they "will soon be in a position to develop and communicate repayment plans" and expect this to be by the end of January.

They further stated: "Since July 2022 Doune The Rabbit Hole Festival Ltd continued to trade because there was good reason to believe that we could expect an imminent windfall from a large bank loan and/or major donation from a private source.

"Whilst we have waited for these to come to fruition, certain creditors have begun to escalate unpaid debts into legal action which made it imperative for me to seek professional advice.

"I consulted a number of sources before speaking to Scott Milne from Quantuma Advisory Limited. On his advice on 8th December the company filed for insolvency and appointed Quantuma as liquidators.

"Operation of the festival has been taken over by Festival Beverage and Property Services Ltd (FBPS). This company operated the 2018 and 2019 festivals. 

"As part of the conditions attached to the planning and promotion of future events it has been agreed that future proceeds from Doune 2023 and beyond will be paid in full to the liquidators who in turn will pay these as dividends to creditors. The director of FBPS, who has already invested significantly in the event, will neither recoup director loans nor take any profit from the festival until the 2022 debt has been repaid in full. It is worth noting here that the considerable sum owed to the director of FBPS Ltd from the event is larger than the total amount owed to all creditors. The director has never extracted any profit from the business. Hopefully this makes it clear that there has been no financial benefit to directors of either company as a result of their involvement in the event, in fact, much the opposite.

"Festival Beverage and Property Services Ltd are committed to sustaining Doune The Rabbit Hole Festival as the most likely long-term way of repaying these debts. Whilst working towards this, the company intends to seek new investment and develop new income streams in order to expedite payments to crew, artists and suppliers where possible. This will include sale of assets and a crowdfunding campaign.

"In the meantime if the long awaited donation comes to fruition it can still be used for the purpose of paying 2022 creditors as planned, as could any loan income secured.

"Whilst these developments take us far from the outcome that is desired by all parties, they nudge us a little closer to resolution than the alternative, which would be for the event to fully wind up, with no possibility of any debts ever being repaid.

"Naturally, many of our creditors are justifiably angry about this situation and have become alarmed at the liquidation, which has affected many individuals, artists and businesses with varying levels of severity.

"Final numbers show that over 10,000 people had a great time at Doune 2022 (including our day ticket holders), giving a really strong base from which to develop the festival into a sustainable event which supports artists, crew and the supply chain as intended in 2023 and beyond with the right support and team in place."