PRESS RELEASE : Scam company, Prive Global Sports, which claimed to sell hospitality packages to major sporting events is shut down [August 2024]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 22 August 2024.

Company claimed to be able to provide cheap hospitality at events such as the Six Nations and Formula 1 races.

• Prive Global Sports Ltd offered heavily discounted hospitality packages to businesses for in-demand sporting events
• The company’s clients paid for packages which were later cancelled with no refunds provided
• Customers have lost more than £600,000 in total

A company which offered half-priced hospitality at sold-out sporting events has been shut down after cancelling the bookings at short notice and failing to pay refunds to customers.

Prive Global Sports Ltd sent unsolicited emails to prospective clients, targeting them with high-end corporate hospitality at events such as the Six Nations Rugby and Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The company offered packages at a significant discount of around 50%, claiming the tickets had become available due to cancellations.

Prive Global Sports would then email customers ahead of the dates to cancel the bookings, promising a refund and free tickets to alternative events.

No refunds were ever made and the company’s clients suffered financial losses of more than £600,000.

Prive Global Sports was wound-up at the High Court in Manchester on Wednesday 21 August.

David Usher, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Prive Global Sports never had the rights to the corporate hospitality packages it offered to businesses, scamming them out of hundreds of thousands of pounds instead.

Customers lost out not just financially but also reputationally when packages intended to raise their own profile were cancelled at short notice.

The company also collected significant sums in VAT payments when it was not registered to do so and submitted highly dubious and unverified accounts to Companies House.

Investigations into Prive Global Sports, which began in February 2024, found no evidence of legitimate trading activity from the company.

The company had been established in March 2020 under the name Valamus Ltd.

A number of clients who spoke to the Insolvency Service said they had made complaints to Action Fraud about the company.

The RFU and FIA, the governing bodies for rugby union in England and worldwide motorsport, published warnings on their websites stating they had no affiliation with Prive Global Sports and urging customers not to buy tickets from them.

Prive Global Sports also charged 20% VAT on each sale, collecting around £120,000 in tax, when it was not registered to do so.

The Insolvency Service found no evidence that any VAT collected by the company was paid to HM Revenue and Customs.

Accounts filed at Companies House in 2022-2023 valued the company at £4.75 million. The Insolvency Service found no evidence to support such a valuation.

Prive Global Sports also failed to maintain a registered office and the company phone and email contacts no longer work.

The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of the company.

All enquiries concerning the affairs of the Prive Global Sports should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit: 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ. Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk.