Men's Mag' Publisher Liquidated

The publisher of a men’s magazine has been ordered into liquidation on the grounds of public interest by the Insolvency Service.

Sixty-Sixty Four Limited, a London based company which traded as a magazine called ‘Upstreet’, was given a liquidation order by the High Court on 25 June 2010, following an investigation by the Company Investigations branch of the Insolvency Service which discovered that at least eight employees and journalists were still owed payment from 2008.

The investigation found that the company, which produced two fashion and lifestyle magazines aimed at men, was operating while insolvent, had misled advertisers and investors and failed to keep proper accounts.

It came after Gavin Knight, a former editor of ‘Palladium’, one of the company’s magazines, obtained a judgement against the company in February 2009 for £3,985. At the time the company counter-claimed for £60,000 but were refused a plea to adjourn the claim due to lack of supporting evidence.

Knight said, “It is good that justice has finally seen to be done for all the freelance journalists who wrote articles in good faith for these magazines, but remain unpaid.  It's tough enough out there making a living as a freelance journalist without having to pursue payment through the courts.”

‘Upstreet’ was managed by Sixty-Sixty Four directors Roger Dhelens and Romain Ibanez, who originally published the magazine in France through a company called Upstreet International Limited, which was created in 2000.

Another company, Artwall Limited, was created by the same directors in 2003 to publish ‘Upstreet’ in the UK. Both companies were subsequently placed into liquidation in 2007 with debts of £351,000 between them.

In May 2008 Sixty-Sixty Four began publishing a second magazine, ‘Palladium’, in English, which lasted less than a year before Knight obtained a judgement against it.

Chris Mayhew, supervisor of Company Investigations, said, “The evidence uncovered by this investigation discloses this was the third company used by the directors as a shield to protect themselves from the liabilities incurred in running a publishing business.

“Sixty-Sixty Four Limited was operated with cynical disregard for staff, contributors, photographers and journalists, many of whom remain unpaid.”

Posted at 04:09PM Jul 01, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency  |  Comments[0]