Red Flag for Red Letter Days
Discussion
There have been instances where events organised by the company "Red Letter Days" have been cancelled at very short notice.
It is alleged by the actual provider of these events that they were cancelled due to non payment by Red Letter Days.
Red Letter days are declining to issue refunds for cancelled events.
It is alleged by the actual provider of these events that they were cancelled due to non payment by Red Letter Days.
Red Letter days are declining to issue refunds for cancelled events.
Isn't Red Letter Days owned by Rachel Elnaugh, one of the "Dragons" in the BBC's Dragon's Den ?
They (the BBC) make an issue of it being worth £25 mill. As (I don't think) it's a quoted company, that valuation could of course be as reliable as a TVR.
Having said that, I think Dragon's Den was filmed a year ot two ago & much happens in business in that time. She may of course have sold her interest in the company anyway.
They (the BBC) make an issue of it being worth £25 mill. As (I don't think) it's a quoted company, that valuation could of course be as reliable as a TVR.
Having said that, I think Dragon's Den was filmed a year ot two ago & much happens in business in that time. She may of course have sold her interest in the company anyway.
55jnj said:
Isn't Red Letter Days owned by Rachel Elnaugh, one of the "Dragons" in the BBC's Dragon's Den ?
They (the BBC) make an issue of it being worth £25 mill. As (I don't think) it's a quoted company, that valuation could of course be as reliable as a TVR.
Having said that, I think Dragon's Den was filmed a year ot two ago & much happens in business in that time. She may of course have sold her interest in the company anyway.
She's still involved according to the report:
Red Letter Days owes us thousands, say suppliers
By Alistair Osborne and Stephen Seawright (Filed: 30/07/2005)
Red Letter Days, the company which sells high-octane gift experiences such as climbing Mount Everest or driving a Formula 1 car, was in crisis last night.
Leading suppliers have stopped doing business with the company, claiming it owes them hundreds of thousands of pounds, while Red Letter Days would not respond to questions about its future.
Rachel Elnaugh: ‘We have £3.3m in the bank, which we are waiting to be released.’
Failure would be highly embarrassing for Rachel Elnaugh, the company's high-profile founder and chief executive, who was one of the judges on the BBC2 show Dragons' Den, where she offered advice to budding entrepreneurs.
Ms Elnaugh, who had a baby on Monday, declined to return calls yesterday or make any comment.
Neither would operations director Vince Warsap, even when a mobile phone was taken into his office by Ms Elnaugh's personal assistant.
The company's press relations adviser, Ian Haworth of Haworth Associates, said he had been told the late-payments problem was due to "a change in our accounting procedures".
However, his own inquiries, in response to press calls, were equally frustrated by the company's directors, who apparently did not brief him on the situation.
Mr Haworth said: "I've put in the calls to find out more information but I haven't received a reply."
Only two months ago, Red Letter Days said it had hired Sir Rodney Walker as its chairman ahead of a planned float on Aim, valuing the business at £20m-£25m.
Sir Rodney, a former chairman of the UK Sports Council who also chairs Goals Soccer Centres and Spice Holdings, could not be reached for comment last night.
Suppliers have lost patience with the company. Marine Connections, a marine charity that organises boat trips for whale and dolphin watching in Wales and Cornwall, said it had instructed solicitors to commence legal action to recover about £15,000 allegedly due from Red Letter Days. The legal action is being funded by a supporter of the charity.
"At the beginning of this year we became a bit concerned as we were having to constantly chase them for payment," said Marine Connections director Margaux Dodds. "But it really came to a head this month because we have not been paid since March."
Mr Haworth confirmed that two motor racing track operators - Thruxton in Hampshire and Everyman, which runs Mallory Park and Prestwood Hall in Leicestershire - have pulled out of deals to supply Red Letter Days.
The track operators are claiming to be owed more than £300,000.
Paintballing firm Go Ballistic has also scrapped planned events for Red Letter Days, claiming it was owed thousands of pounds.
Earlier this week, Ms Elnaugh was reported saying: "We have £3.3m in the bank, which we are waiting to be released." However, the company would not comment on its financial situation last night, referring all calls to Mr Haworth.
The latest published accounts for the year to July 3, 2003 show Red Letter Days made a pre-tax loss of £4.77m on £17.1m sales.
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>> Edited by Paul Dishman on Saturday 30th July 18:46
I personally know one of their suppliers who has been owed £50K for over 3 months. This has been on the cards for quite some time. I was approached by RLD recently to supply a new activity to them and luckily had heard enough bad payment stories from friends that it wasn't a difficult decision to say no to them.
That and the fact they wanted 50% commission!
I do not know of one driving activity supplier who makes any money from RLD. The only reason they exist and have survived so long is because of the marketing and sales machine they have accumulated. Fortunately, customers these days are becoming more aware and know they can get better value by booking direct.
In the long term, once RLD and their kind go out of business, we'll all benefit by being able to book experiences direct with suppliers (or through smaller, specialist agencies) knowing that the money is mainly being spent on the day itself and not on printing a 100 page glossy catalogue or a call centre in Guildford.
That and the fact they wanted 50% commission!
I do not know of one driving activity supplier who makes any money from RLD. The only reason they exist and have survived so long is because of the marketing and sales machine they have accumulated. Fortunately, customers these days are becoming more aware and know they can get better value by booking direct.
In the long term, once RLD and their kind go out of business, we'll all benefit by being able to book experiences direct with suppliers (or through smaller, specialist agencies) knowing that the money is mainly being spent on the day itself and not on printing a 100 page glossy catalogue or a call centre in Guildford.
As I see it they are paid up front by their customers and then pay their suppliers in arrears. So cashflow shouldn't really be too much of a worry - they should have a lot of money in the bank. If not why not?
Unless it's all gone on advertising, but I haven't noticed any adverts. Actually I don't notice many adverts for anything.
Unless it's all gone on advertising, but I haven't noticed any adverts. Actually I don't notice many adverts for anything.
Indeed.
Customer books and pays sometimes as much as a year in advance of the day.
Supplier cannot cancel their day even if RLD has only booked one person onto it.
Supplier has to pay RLD 50% commission.
Supplier then waits 3 months for the money or now has to take them to court for it.
What does the £3.3M "in the bank" consist of? Probably a year's worth of advance bookings which now won't be fulfilled.
Oh, and it's unbelievable how many RLD vouchers go unclaimed. Something like 10% from what they told me. In these cases it's 100% profit for RLD but the suppliers get nowt.
Customer books and pays sometimes as much as a year in advance of the day.
Supplier cannot cancel their day even if RLD has only booked one person onto it.
Supplier has to pay RLD 50% commission.
Supplier then waits 3 months for the money or now has to take them to court for it.
What does the £3.3M "in the bank" consist of? Probably a year's worth of advance bookings which now won't be fulfilled.
Oh, and it's unbelievable how many RLD vouchers go unclaimed. Something like 10% from what they told me. In these cases it's 100% profit for RLD but the suppliers get nowt.
It really annoys me when I see all these snide references to TVR reliability by some of your members who have probably never owned one in their lives never mind actually driven them. I have owned a 5.0 Chimaera for 4 years which has been brilliant apart from normal wear and tear items such as clutch, brake pads, tyres,etc. They are hand built precision cars and would be just as reliable as Astons, Bentleys,Ferraris,etc. I have a boring 525D for everyday transport which gets me from A to B but never puts a smile on my face like the TVR !
chimaera5.0 said:
It really annoys me when I see all these snide references to TVR reliability by some of your members who have probably never owned one in their lives never mind actually driven them. I have owned a 5.0 Chimaera for 4 years which has been brilliant apart from normal wear and tear items such as clutch, brake pads, tyres,etc. They are hand built precision cars and would be just as reliable as Astons, Bentleys,Ferraris,etc. I have a boring 525D for everyday transport which gets me from A to B but never puts a smile on my face like the TVR !
Eh?
chimaera5.0 said:
It really annoys me when I see all these snide references to TVR reliability by some of your members who have probably never owned one in their lives never mind actually driven them. I have owned a 5.0 Chimaera for 4 years which has been brilliant apart from normal wear and tear items such as clutch, brake pads, tyres,etc. They are hand built precision cars and would be just as reliable as Astons, Bentleys,Ferraris,etc. I have a boring 525D for everyday transport which gets me from A to B but never puts a smile on my face like the TVR !
I agree. Mrs BC uses our 5 litre Chim every day and we both use it at weekends. It's the 4th one and they have all been great.
bad company said:
It really annoys me when I see all these snide references to TVR reliability by some of your members who have probably never owned one in their lives never mind actually driven them. I have owned a 5.0 Chimaera for 4 years which has been brilliant apart from normal wear and tear items such as clutch, brake pads, tyres,etc. They are hand built precision cars and would be just as reliable as Astons, Bentleys,Ferraris,etc. I have a boring 525D for everyday transport which gets me from A to B but never puts a smile on my face like the TVR !
I agree. Mrs BC uses our 5 litre Chim every day and we both use it at weekends. It's the 4th one and they have all been great.
Eh?
2 Smokin Barrels said:
chimaera5.0 said:
It really annoys me when I see all these snide references to TVR reliability by some of your members who have probably never owned one in their lives never mind actually driven them. I have owned a 5.0 Chimaera for 4 years which has been brilliant apart from normal wear and tear items such as clutch, brake pads, tyres,etc. They are hand built precision cars and would be just as reliable as Astons, Bentleys,Ferraris,etc. I have a boring 525D for everyday transport which gets me from A to B but never puts a smile on my face like the TVR !
I agree. Mrs BC uses our 5 litre Chim every day and we both use it at weekends. It's the 4th one and they have all been great.
Eh?
2SB...........Keep up at the back please
55jnj said:
They (the BBC) make an issue of it being worth £25 mill. As (I don't think) it's a quoted company, that valuation could of course be as reliable as a TVR.
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