Mallory Park Motorsports, eponymous lease-holder of the historic Leicestershire race track, has declared itself insolvent and gone into administration.
The operator’s collapse comes in the wake of a long-running campaign by local residents to abate noise from the circuit by cutting the number of days it is allowed to run events. This led to conviction in August this year on five breaches of an enforcement notice dating back to 1985, in a prosecution brought by the local authority, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council.
The immediate result was complete curtailment of track days, a cash cow for MPM, undermining its business viability. MPM’s last-ditch plea for a substantial rent reduction to circuit owner Titan Properties failed to produce a satisfactory result. The company was therefore left with no choice but administration, despite ongoing financial backing from the British Automobile Racing Club.
However, administrator Ian Robert of corporate recovery and insolvency practitioner Kingston Smith & Partners is optimistic that a turnaround is still possible. In a statement, he said: “I will be working with all the stakeholders to ensure that Mallory Park will see racing again. I hope the administration process can assist in finding a solution which will be beneficial to all parties. To that end, I will be negotiating with the landlord and the council, with the support of the BARC, to ensure racing can be enjoyed at Mallory Park for years to come. Although it is early days, I am hopeful that, once a solution to the lease is found, all of the company’s creditors should receive a substantial dividend, which I understand is very much the driving force behind the continued support of the BARC.”