Hastings pier remains open for visitors and events though Lions Hastings Pier Ltd has gone into administration.

Hastings pier company goes into administration

Lions Hastings Pier Ltd has been put into administration, though the running of the pier will continue normally. The indebted company is not the owner of the pier freehold — that is its sole director, Sheikh Abid Gulzar, who, HOT understands, will be free to set up another company to take its place. Nick Terdre reports.

Lions Hastings Pier Ltd has gone into administration, and a meeting of creditors called for Thursday 3 August, as reported in the Gazette. However, according to Manas Singh, an associate of the company’s sole director Sheikh Abid Gulzar, this will not affect the running of the pier, which will remain open, as this is in the hands of the current tenant. Their contract is not with LHP but with Gulzar directly.

LHP’s move into administration means that the application for a winding-up order against the company which former employees Peter Wheeler and Daisy Hill proposed to bring, backed by a Crowdfunder appeal, has been nullified. Wheeler and Hill were last year awarded a total of more than £74,000 against LHP for unfair constructive dismissal and violation of the Equality Act which has not been paid.

Like other creditors, they are unlikely to receive much money given the state of the company’s finances. According to the latest accounts filed with Companies House, which cover the period up to 31 March 2022, prior to Wheeler and Hill’s award, LHP had net liabilities of £145,223. A total £217,452 was owed due to creditors, of whom HOT understands that Gulzar himself is one.

At that time LHP had total assets of just over £72,000. If the current and previous tenants’ contracts were made directly with Gulzar, the rents would presumably have been paid to him. There have been tenants on the pier since 2020.

Creditors should be clearer about the likelihood of being paid after next week’s online meeting, for which they have been invited to sign up. The nominated liquidator is Laura Anne Walshe of the Keywood Group Limited, which has offices in Birmingham.

The liquidation of LHP does not affect the ownership of the pier, which remains in Gulzar’s hands. He will therefore be free, HOT understands, to set up a new company in LHP’s place.

Had the winding-up petition been granted, Gulzar, as the company’s director, would have been subject to an oral examination by a solicitor appointed by Wheeler and Hill to clarify why the company was no longer able to continue as a going concern. It will now be up to the administrator to investigate the circumstances of LHP’s failure.

This may also prove to be a bone of contention. If the company appoints its own administrator, there may be little questioning of what went wrong. Creditors however may also seek to appoint the administrator, which could lead to a more rigorous scrutiny of the company’s actions.

Among various legal actions under way against Gulzar’s companies, HOT understands that Golden (Lions) Eastbourne Ltd, which owns Eastbourne pier, is fighting a winding-up petition brought by British Gas and Investec Asset Finance. In this case, since it is the company rather than Gulzar personally which owns the pier, the property may be lost if the petition is granted.

Concerts, films and other events arranged on the pier will still take place.

This article was amended by Nick Terdre on 28 July 2023 to include information on the nominated liquidator and feedback from Manas Singh that the pier will remain open.

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