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27
Jun
No new investigations into Welcome to Yorkshire, liquidators' report reveals
The liquidators overseeing the winding up of the region’s now-defunct tourism body have not found anything new to investigate, they reveal in their final account before dissolving the company.
Welcome to Yorkshire, which became famous nationally for bringing the Tour de France to Yorkshire in 2014, was put into administration in 2022 after it ran into financial trouble.
First, it overspent when organising the cycling event, then it stopped receiving an important source of grant funding.
It asked local authorities, which already contributed 30% of its income, to provide additional funding, but they declined, leaving the tourism body’s future unviable.
Amid these financial matters, there were also questions about the inappropriate use of Welcome to Yorkshire funds by senior figures within the organisation, notably its chief executive Sir Gary Verity. He resigned “on health grounds” in 2019, shortly after an investigation had found he had “made errors of judgement regarding his expenses”.
The joint liquidators have already submitted a report to the Secretary of State about the conduct of Welcome to Yorkshire’s directors, but this remains confidential and its contents have not been disclosed.
The final report published this week also reveals that Welcome to Yorkshire’s preferential creditors have all been repaid in full, to the value of nearly £290,000.
Agreed claims from unsecured creditors amount to £2,475,804, and these were paid a dividend of 28.56p in the pound.
The joint administrators, from national accountancy firm Armstrong Watson, have received £77,500.
The Grand Départ of the Tour de France was held over three days in July 2014, and passed through Harrogate, Ripon, Pateley Bridge, Masham and many other places around our district, as well as much of the rest of the region.
According to the official event impact review published afterwards, it generated around £130million for Yorkshire's economy and was watched at the roadside by 3.5m people.
The event, which was the brainchild of Sir Gary Verity, was viewed worldwide as a great success, and Tour director Christian Prudhomme described it as “the grandest Grand Départ” in the 111-year history of the race.
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