Biddable Croydon: the listing, on the Croydon BID website, for the non-existent beer festival organised by a non-existent company
Dozens of beer- and cider-lovers have been left disappointed and out-of-pocket (for now at least) by the last-minute cancellation of a two-day festival due to have been staged at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls.
But anyone booking in advance for the South London Beer and Cider Festival on March 1 and 2, as enthusiastically promoted by Croydon BID, the business “improvement” district, perhaps should have been a little wary – because there is no trace of the named organisers – Tap and Spile Events – as a going concern at Companies House.
Indeed, there’s no trading business called “Epsom Events”, either, although that was one hyperlink to be found on an email sent to those who shelled out £9.50 in advance for their entry ticket to the non-event.
Non-eventBrite: anyone trying to book tickets this week got a “sold out” message
That email was from someone called “Phil” at an email domain epsomfoodfestivial.co.uk, but guess what…? Yep, there’s no business obviously of that name, either.
Any poor schmuck who, as Croydon BID had encouraged through their online events listing, tried to book a place at the South London Beer and Cider Festival via their EventBrite page earlier this week will have discovered a “Sold Out” notice. But that was far from the case, as Epsom Food Festival Phil would admit in his email to pre-paying punters this week.
The event was supposed to have started from 6pm today and continue through Saturday.
“Tap and Spile Events presents the South London Beer and Cider Festival featuring a quenching range of over 40 beers, stouts and ciders for you to come and try!!” read the enticing come-on from the non-existent company.
They offered “Amazing bespoke cocktails by Inspire and Create Cocktails” (why would you want cocktails at a beer and cider festival?), “Mexican street food by Tacos Mx”, and a range of live music including six-piece soul band New Dawn Soul (“If you love The Commitments, you will love these guys!”) and acoustic singer-songwriter Mike Gill, as well as someone called “DJ Aerteri” from 9pm until close both nights.
The ticket prices (£15 on the door if you hadn’t coughed up on spec) included a FREE (written in caps for emphasis) “commemorative glass to use and keep” and “a FREE pint of beer/ale or cider of your choice on arrival”, which all sounds like a decent deal.
With prices at the festival set at £4 a pint, maybe it was all a bit too good to be true?
We will never know.
Late morning on Wednesday, the organisers… well, Phil at the non-existent business, sent off an email to their eager festival-goers.
“Dear Beer and Cider fans,” Phil wrote.
“We hope you are all doing well. We wanted to contact you as soon as possible about the event this weekend.
“Unfortunately, we have had to now cancel the event until the autumn. This wasn’t an easy decision to make as we hate postponing/cancelling events and we hate disappointing you. Unfortunately, the event just hasn’t sold enough tickets to make it financially viable for us to run the event.
“We had hoped the event would attract around a 1,000 people across the weekend, seeing as it was its first year, however, we have only been able to sell 127 tickets in total.
“This means we wouldn’t be able to give you the high-class, valued event we like to produce and that you deserve, and as a result we have made the tough decision to cancel the event. We are looking for a smaller venue and date for later in the year so we can try and get the event up and running again.
“We are so sorry for the inconvenience and for the cancellation of this event. We will be making refunds to you for your ticket and, we will back in touch at the start of next week to confirm the refunding process.”
Some punters thought this was a curious thing to say. Why “confirm” a refunding process, when all you have to do is go ahead and make the refunds?
The email was signed off by “The Tap and Spile Events team”.
There already exists a handful of established beer festivals staged around the borough – in the Braithwaite Hall, at Stanley Halls and at Selhurst Park- and they usually have the endorsement and involvement of local branches of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, and their network of beer and cider enthusiasts across the country that ensures that the places are jam-packed with customers.
It’s a rum do: the Epsom Events, like the Tap and Spile website, has just a single, not very helpful holding page
Inside Croydon spoke to the people at BHLive, the Bournemouth-based operators of the Fairfield Halls, but they said they knew nothing about the Beer and Cider Festival, or its cancellation.
It’s all a bit odd.
Companies House has no company called “Tap and Spile” currently trading, although there are seven companies listed of a similar name, linked to places in the Midlands or north of England – Tap and Spile Hexham, Tap and Spile Birmingham, and so on.
All have gone into liquidation or been dissolved. A couple of the companies share a common director, but otherwise they appear unconnected and some have not been in business for a decade or more.
Follow the link for Tap and Spile’s website, and you get a holding page saying “Coming soon”.
It is the same if you look for Epsom Events online … “Coming soon”.
Companies House records do show that a company called Epsom Events Ltd was registered at Worple Road in the Surrey town in 2019, but it was dissolved in 2021. Lockdown wasn’t a great time to launch into the hospitality business. Epsom Events Ltd’s sole director was someone called Philp James Keith.
Having a giraffe: Jason Perry (right) and Croydon BID CEO Matthew Sims have never considered the obvious conflicts of interest in having the Mayor as a co-director
Maybe that’s the same Phil at the Epsom Food Festival? We can’t say with any certainty, because Phil’s been a bit elusive the past day or so, and hasn’t answered the questions we sent to him.
Croydon BID, though, did get back to us.
The non-existent event organised by the non-existent company that they were promoting on their website? Nuffink to do with us, guv, Croydon BID said.
Croydon BID is the organisation that took £50,000 of public money intended for arts in Croydon and turned it into a herd of fibreglass giraffes, if you recall.
Yesterday, they told Inside Croydon that they “have no affiliation” with the South London Beer and Cider Festival or its organisers.
“The event is included in the ‘What’s On’ section of our website, which features the most recent events and activities taking place in Croydon town centre (including those not run by the BID), and businesses can contact us to add their own event.”
Even, it would seem, non-existent businesses. Croydon BID does not appear to have conducted any simple checks on Tap and Spile or Epsom Events before helping to promote an event that is not taking place, while taking money off honest, hard-working people.
Jason Perry, the part-time Mayor of Croydon, is a director of Croydon BID.
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Literally the first time I’ve heard of this event
Which may be one reason for the poor ticket sales.
But why would Croydon BID advertise an event by a non-existent company, and by a business that is not among their members?
Beer can do that!
There appears to have been an ‘epic 2024 festival’ in Wandsworth Town Hall the other Saturday. “Epic” in that it lasted for all of five hours.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-sw-london-beer-and-cider-festival-2024-tickets-807618959047
Did anyone go?
Further proof that anything that Perry is involved in couldn’t organise a p**s up in a brewery or anywhere else…..
Philip James Keith, born October 1970, has run a number of companies, all by himself.
The Events People Limited, incorporated on 6 January 2024. Currently active, in the business of “Activities of exhibition and fair organisers (82301)”.
PJK Events Limited, incorporated 17 January 2022, dissolved on 27 June 2023 via compulsory strike-off. It was 1 year 5 months old at the time of dissolution. Same business as above. No financial records available.
Epsom Events Limited, incorporated 25 November 2019, dissolved on 27 June 2023 via compulsory strike-off. That was 1 year 7 months old at the time of dissolution. Same business as above. No financial records available.
Thrillseeker Media Limited, incorporated 11 June 2018, dissolved on 12 January 2021 via compulsory strike-off. It was 2½ years old at the time of dissolution. Business could have been any of the following information service activities “not elsewhere classified”:
• Information search services on a fee or contract basis
• News clipping service
• Press clipping service
• Press cutting agency
• Telephone based information services
No financial records available.
Rugby Shows Limited, incorporated 11 June 2018, dissolved on 19 November 2019 via compulsory strike-off. This one was 1 year 5 months old at the time of dissolution. Was in the business of media representation. You guessed it, no financial records available.
The reasons why the government’s Companies House may strike off a company are usually that the company has failed to comply with certain legal requirements, including but not limited to:
• Failure to submit timely accounts.
• Failure to submit an annual confirmation statement.
• Failure to pay fees or penalty fees.
Would you buy a used car – or a beer and cider festival ticket – from this man?
The public should not have to conduct “fit and proper person” tests if they respond to an online endorsement from an organisation, Croydon BID, of which piss-poor Jason Perry is a director.
Totally agree, but from experience when dealing with anything involving this council I count fingers, record and cctv everything and embark on exhaustive investigations for veracity.
Paranoia is its own rewards
Is there any actual recourse for people that brought tickets to this? Asking for a friend…
Email us your details – be good to try to help
As a supplier, we’ve not been paid. Can’t get any response from this Phil Keith person.
We’re not the only suppliers that have been left with unpaid bills.
Was there any come back from all of this?did suppliers/ customers get refunds? The guy had just pulled the same stunt in Woking so we are looking to get our money back but he’s gone silent.
Good luck with that Patrick. He’s got a business track record that makes Donald Trump appear honest https://open.endole.co.uk/insight/people/24728652-mr-philip-james-keith
Some who booked tickets managed to get refunds, but not many, and only after great persistence. As for suppliers…
Thanks all, sorry to hear people were stung, amazing how he get away with this sort of thing. I also pre purchased beer tokens so I’ll be chasing up.
Did anyone ever get there money owed from Phil?
We are a band who played at 2 of his “festivals” and never received our payment. Luckily i have found his home address..
It’s all a bit of a while ago now, Tom, though as you can see from the comments above, you are not the only supplier to have been stung.
There’s an operation called “Tap and Spile” at venues in Birmingham, Darlington and Scarborough currently, though they may have nothing to do with “Epsom Phil”.
If you’d like to email us here, we will contact other suppliers, and notify Phil’s local Trading Standards and the old faithful, BBC Watchdog…
Just an update on this guy, he is advertising a host of events on Facebook again around the country. All look highly dubious again. If anyone opened a trading standards case against him this may be of use
So we can provide suitable “buyer beware” advice, Patrick: what name or names are these events trading under?
Does the organiser provide a company or trading name? Or contact details?
He’s promoting a beer and cider festival at Rosslyn Park rugby club next month, with tickets from £22.50 for all you can drink, or turn up and pay £30 on the day and £6 a pint.
His company The Events People Limited is about to be struck off, while his new one, Your Local Beer Festival Limited, was only formed in December; fellow founding company officer, Quentin Jonathan Logan, resigned less than two months later
Will need to be careful if the rugby boys don’t get their beers…
He’s pulling similar stunts – whoops – arranging other such events at Sutton FC and Raynes Park Sports Ground in July, Diss in South Norfolk in August and Aldershot in October.
Any iC readers who are CAMRA members should alert their fellow drinkers to the business track record of the organiser
He was running an event at G live in Guildford. I emailed them to see if it was legit and they said it wasn’t and asked him to remove the event. He’s since removed it.