Here’s a quick post to bring together some of the news and thoughts we’ve picked up on over the last day or so relating to Team Rock’s going into istration.
First off, Orange Goblin frontman Ben Ward’s campaign to raise some cash for those made unemployed has smashed its £20,000 target and – at time of writing – stands at a gnat’s chuff under £55,000. Incredible. To clarify, as this has come up several times in the campaign’s comments, this cash is for those who lost their jobs and not to stabilise / shore up the company. Ben’s in talks with staff in Scotland and down south to work out the best way to get it to them once the campaign ends. Note that this is likely to be next month as it’s a 30-day fundraiser.
The likelihood is, for reasons relating to how istration works and the size of the debt owed by Team Rock (around £8m), these folk won’t get a redundancy package and won’t be paid for the work they’ve done since their last paycheque. Staff were being set assignments, reviews and so on mere hours before the announcement.
The first high-profile donation we spotted was £1000 from Avenged Sevenfold. Added to that have been sums from Black Stone Cherry, Tesseract, Asking Alexandra, Earache Records and more.
In addition, singer/songwriter Frank Turner has set up an auction to raise more cash for the now-jobless. Less than an hour to go and it’s on £760!
We gather, and this is from a handful of reliable people we know close to Team Rock and their employees, that the magazines were pulling their own financial weight. I’m no finance expert (that’s why my wife handles our s) but this could be their saving grace if there is a way to sell them off as going concerns. Of course, it means finding a buyer and there aren’t that many big publishing houses left these days. Future are one, but they sold the titles to Team Rock in 2013.
s at FRP Advisory are now seeking buyers for the business’s magazine titles and other assets. t Tom MacLennan said Team Rock had traded at a loss “for a significant period of time”. Adding: “The company explored every option to secure the long-term future of the business, however the constraints on the cash position of the business were such that istration was the only viable option. The istration presents an excellent opportunity to acquire high profile rock music titles, products and brands that have a substantial global following. ”
