Liverpool Council is set to pay a bill of almost £700,000 to the administrators of the troubled Epstein Theatre.
The council’s cabinet will meet later this week to approve the £685,816.26 payment as well as approve initial plans that could see the theatre reopened under a new operator.
The Epstein, owned by the council but run under a lease by operator Epstein Theatre Limited , appointed administrators in 2017, with that later leading to the discovery of a major fraud case.
READ MORE: Police called over photos of Wayne Rooney asleep next to women
Assistant manager Kelvin Lloyd was jailed in 2019 for two years and four months after being found to have stolen £273,000 from the theatre.
The council later attempted to transfer the lease for the theatre to a new operator but a report to cabinet said that effort was met with threats of legal action, driving up the administrator’s fees further.
The report said: “There were numerous difficulties with the transfer process, including threats of litigation from the former operator, which have significantly hindered the transfer and this substantially increased the administrators costs for which LCC are now liable.
“These costs have been reviewed by LCC Audit and amount to £568,506.06 (net).
“The emergence of the Covid pandemic in early 2020 meant that the proposed transfer did not take place. The administration process is now complete: Covid-19 has forced the administrators to close the theatre and to refund advance ticket sales.”
Combined with the VAT the council has to pay, the cost increases from £568,506.06 to £685,816.26, though this can be recovered at a later date.
The report adds the move has been approved in principle by Regeneration Commissioner Deborah McLaughlin and that a review will take place by the audit committee into how the situation at the Epstein developed.
The new operator, Epstein Entertainments Limited, is a partnership of Regal Entertainments, who own and run the Theatre Royal in St Helens, and Bill Elms Promotions, an established Liverpool theatre promotional company.
The report said they are aiming to reopen the theatre in the autumn and rehire staff, all of whom were made redundant.
The council’s cabinet will meet on Friday to agree the proposals.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
