Komedia stuggles with debt

Financial woes hit Brighton venue

Brighton comedy venue Komedia is battling to clear debts of more than £300,000.

Accountants say they cannot guarantee to pay the bills in full, and are asking creditors to accept as little as a third of what they are owed so the club can keep trading.

If the majority of the 77 other firms do not agree, the venue could be forced into liquidation. Komedia needs to strike a deal to cover at least 75 per cent of its £319,944 debt to move ahead.

The club – which was named best comedy venue in the south at last month’s Chortle Awards for the seventh time – hosts a hugely popular weekend club, Krater, as well as several regular nights and touring shows. Graham Norton, The Mighty Boosh and Johnny Vegas have all played there in the past.

But it hit problems following the withdrawal of a £150,000-a year Arts Council grant last April, at a time when it was also undergoing a £1million revamp. It also blamed a downturn in the live music scene for some of its woes, as bands were once a thriving part of its programme.

The club has written to the creditors offering them a minimum of 33 per cent of their bills – but says it ultimately hopes to settle all debts in full from future profits.

A club spokesman told Chortle the move was a result of the credit-crunch, which made it difficult to manage its debts, but insisted that its financial situation was not jeopardising the club’s future.

‘We are not fighting for survival, we are restructuring the debts of the company,’ the spokesman said.

‘The 33 per cent is a minimum payment, we are offering to pay all the debts in full out of the company profits and that is our objective. If normal routes to finance were open we would be restructuring the debt in another way.

‘Komedia Brighton is busier than ever before and we will be continuing to host the award-winning programme to sell-out houses for the foreseeable future.’

Komedia recently opened a second branch in Bath, but this is run as a separate operation, which is unaffected by Brighton’s financial situation.

Komedia is not the only major comedy club with financial issues. Jongleurs' parent company Regent Inns issued a warning about its future this month, saying it had been hit by a huge number of Christmas party cancellations.