Featured Image: The Formula 1 British Grand Prix
Privè Global Events, which offered discounted packages to businesses for popular sporting events, has been shut down by the UK’s Insolvency Service after clients paid for packages which were later cancelled with no refunds provided.
Prive Global Sports Ltd – which was trading as Privè Global Events – sent unsolicited emails to prospective clients, offering high-end corporate hospitality for events such as the Six Nations and the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The company offered packages at a significant discounted rate of around 50%, claiming the tickets had become available due to cancellations. Privè would then email customers ahead of the dates to cancel the bookings, promising a refund and free tickets to alternative events. However, no refunds were ever made and the company’s clients suffered financial losses of more than £600,000 (€712,000/$792,000).
Both Formula 1’s governing body the FIA, and rugby union governing body the RFU, had repeatedly warned consumers over the fraudulent sale of hospitality packages.
“Prive Global Sports never had the rights to the corporate hospitality packages it offered to businesses, scamming them out of hundreds of thousands of pounds instead,” said David Usher, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service.
“Customers lost out not just financially but also reputationally when packages intended to raise their own profile were cancelled at short notice.
“The company also collected significant sums in VAT payments when it was not registered to do so and submitted highly dubious and unverified accounts to Companies House.”
Investigations into Prive Global Sports Ltd began in February of this year and found no evidence of legitimate trading activity. The company had originally been established in March 2020 under the name of Valamus Ltd.
A number of clients that had spoke to the Insolvency Service also said they had made complaints to Action Fraud about the company. Additionally, Privè charged 20% VAT on each sale, collecting roughly £120,000 in tax when it was not registered to do so. The Insolvency Service found no evidence that any VAT collected had been paid to HM Revenue and Customs.
Accounts filed at Companies House in 2022-2023 valued the company at £4.75 million, with no evidence to support such a valuation. The business also failed to maintain a registered office, and the company phone and email contacts no longer work.
Prive Global Sports Ltd was wound-up at the High Court in Manchester on August 21.
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