Knutsford wedding venue closes down amid 'problem tenant' row - but owners say they were victims of 'sustained campaign'

A wedding venue has closed amid an ongoing row with the council over unpaid legal fees and accusations of being a problem tenant.

La Belle Epoque left its Knutsford premises in June, with brides and grooms claiming to have been left in the lurch by those in charge.

Couples claim to have lost thousands of pounds in deposits and payments for weddings that will no longer go ahead at the popular Cheshire venue.

But bosses at La Belle Epoque say they have been the victims of a 'sustained campaign' by Knutsford Town Council to eject them from the King Street building, and that most of the couples affected have accepted their offer of an alternative venue.

The council, in a statement posted online, said the action was the 'culmination of four years of problems as tenant'.

Bride-to-be Lynne Hope and her fiancé Benn Farran were due to tie-the-knot at La Belle Epoque on Saturday, July 31.

Lynne, 41, and Ben, 42, said Belle Epoque 'ticked all the boxes' and booked their wedding in January for an agreed price of £9,600.

The couple suspected something was amiss when the venue asked them to pay their deposit and first instalment via bank transfer, rather than with a credit card, on March 12.

La Belle Epoque also gave the couple different bank account details to pay the first instalment that differed to those for the deposit.

"I thought it was all a bit weird", says Lynne.

It later emerged La Belle Epoque had entered into a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) on February 19 to pay off a large debt to HMRC and other creditors.

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The company says this was implemented to enable the business to continue trading “from a position of strength".

Lynne and Ben, from Macclesfield, claim Belle Epoque still accepted another payment on March 12, almost a month after the company had entered into a CVA.

Lynne and Ben then received an email from the company citing issues with Knutsford Town Council, asking whether they would like to have their wedding at another Knutsford venue with links to La Belle Epoque, Larkspur Lodge.

While Larkspur shares the same director, Matthew Mooney, it operates as a separate company.

They were told their wedding could no longer go ahead at La Belle Epoque, leaving them with no choice but to look for another venue.

"We're lucky because we have wedding insurance but we know from a Facebook group that a lot of people didn't and are now thousands of pounds out of pocket," added Lynne.

"This has caused four months of utter stress, all because of La Belle Epoque.”

Heleyna Grice and her fiance Ryan Thompson, from Cheadle Hulme, are in a similar position.

The couple became engaged two years ago and booked their wedding at La Belle Epoque in April 2017.

Their wedding was due to go ahead on Saturday, August 3 but when the couple spotted an article about La Belle Epoque entering into a CVA at the beginning of this year, they became concerned.

“I emailed them asking if there was anything I should be worried about in January,” explained Heleyna.

“They replied saying there was nothing to worry about and that they were in a good position.

“And I trusted them. In February they asked us for another interim payment and we got an email saying there were changes to their bank details.”

The couple say they paid La Belle Epoque £4000 including their deposit, but like many other couples received an email from the company saying there had been a legal dispute with Knutsford Town Council.

Heleyna said they were also told their wedding could be transferred to Larkspur Lodge, but when they made enquiries the venue was not available on their wedding date.

The couple, who did not have any wedding insurance, have not had a refund for their wedding.

Heleyna says their wedding planner and Matthew Mooney were 'vague' when asked why they wouldn't get their money back.

“We requested a face-to-face meeting with one of the directors but it never happened,” added Heleyna.

A statement posted on Knutsford Town Council website said La Belle Epoque has accepted that its lease for 60 King Street has been forfeited.

The council claim to be owed £40,000 in legal fees by La Belle Epoque, yet Mr Mooney disputes this.

Adam Keppel-Green, town clerk for Knutsford Town Council, said: "La Belle Epoque Limited does not now owe the town council any rent; however, it owes circa £40,000 in legal fees incurred in us enforcing the conditions of the former lease and in obtaining vacant possession. Is this accepted by La Belle Epoque?

"Over the course of the past four years the town council has had to commence proceedings in the courts to recover rent arrears on no fewer than four occasions.

"The unauthorised alterations have included the removal of a stud wall, the installation of decking and the installation of pipework through a window and the company failed to undertake repairs to a staircase in the tower."

Mr Mooney, director of La Belle Epoque, in a statement sent to the MEN, said: "La Belle Epoque has been trading at 60 King Street for 46 years. "La Belle Epoque Ltd is a sole trading company with no legal connection with any other venue. 

"La Belle Epoque would like to clarify that it does NOT owe Knutsford Town Council £40,000 in legal fees.

"This amount is in fact largely made up of fees incurred by the council themselves in an attempt to defend against a claim originally made by La Belle Epoque eighteen months ago.

"The original claim was made against the council in respect of their failure to maintain the exterior of the Grade 2 Listed Building as per the contract (to the value of £20,000).

"They have since run up legal fees at the tax payer's expense in defending against this legal claim.

"Trading on the UK high street is tough at the moment and like many other far larger retail businesses we entered into a CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangement) in February 2019, fully supported and approved by HMRC.

"Our landlord, the council, despite not being financially affected in any way, chose to exploit a clause in our lease to take court proceedings against us and evict us from our King street premises.

"We want to make it quite clear that our landlord was not asked to reduce the rent and that there are absolutely NO RENT arrears."

La Belle Epoque vacated 60 King Street on Sunday, June 16, according to Knutsford Town Council website.