Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

The Save Dreamland Campaign was launched by Joyland Books in January 2003 and is now supported by several thousand people. This is the place to discuss all aspects of saving Margate's famous amusement park and its iconic , Grade II listed Scenic Railway, Britain's oldest roller coaster.

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Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Bob » 27 Jul 2016, 10:11

A meeting has been called for August 4 by administrators Duff and Phelps, after the firm entered into a voluntary arrangement last December after going into serious debt. Whilst Dreamland has continued to trade it has also continued to run up debt

It is believed the administrators have been looking into various options, which include compulsory liquidation, a creditors' voluntary liquidation, the return of the firm to the control of the directors and dissolving the company. One of the favoured options appears to be putting up the site for sale.


Not sure how they can sell the site as my understanding is that Thanet Council own the Freehold and the lease was sold onto company in the Cayman Islands in return for £600,000. The chances of Dreamland surviving appear to be about Zero, Few firms survive a CVA let alone a CVA followed by administration. They now have about £6M of debt. They may be making a small profit in July & August but that cannot keep them going over a year nor can it repay the debt. It will be a big blow for the creditors but getting a few pence in the pound back will be better than nothing and in any case Dreamland looks to run out of money by year end in any case

We will have a better idea of what will happen after the creditors meeting. Give the dire financial state of Dreamland I think closure is the only option the Administrators can offer
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby aweber1us » 27 Jul 2016, 20:48

That's were you went wrong Bob , your not very good at thinking.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Vince, Charlie and Sam » 27 Jul 2016, 22:16

There's no doubt that Dreamland has been appallingly mismanaged from the day the physical restoration began. So badly mismanaged that you have to wonder if it was being done on purpose.

You also have to wonder if Bob is a part of this agenda....
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Peet » 28 Jul 2016, 07:08

Bob your post is nothing but speculation, you've been predicting that Dreamland will close every month since it went into administration. Actually it's recording record attendance figures at the moment (10,000 in one day) and the administrators say they are "certain there is a bright future for Dreamland". It is Sands Heritage which is in debt, not Dreamland, so it's perfectly likely that whatever parts of Dreamland that are owned by Sands will be sold on with the park to be operated as a going concern by a new operator.

There has been a huge boost to the town's economy with it being named the country's best seaside town and also recording the highest rise in house prices outside of London. This is all due to Dreamland and the Turner Contemporary. The council's investment has been money very well spent and they will not be letting it close down any time soon.

ANYWAY, we will find out once the talks on the 4th August are concluded, please keep your mindlessly negative speculation to yourself until then.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby smilerbaker » 28 Jul 2016, 08:38

Yes sands are in debt, but in one stroke of the pen they have managed to screw over all the creditors and still managed to keep hold of the lease, they must be laughing at the ineptitude of everyone involved in the CVA.

All this proves is TDC are still incapable of running a pissup in brewery (or probably more accurately they are still the most corrupt local authority in the country)

Now they key to the whole mess

"Also recording the highest rise in house prices outside of London"

BINGO!

Dreamland was taken away from one crook but given over to another.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Bob » 28 Jul 2016, 10:10

smilerbaker wrote:Yes sands are in debt, but in one stroke of the pen they have managed to screw over all the creditors and still managed to keep hold of the lease, they must be laughing at the ineptitude of everyone involved in the CVA.

All this proves is TDC are still incapable of running a pissup in brewery (or probably more accurately they are still the most corrupt local authority in the country)

Now they key to the whole mess

"Also recording the highest rise in house prices outside of London"

BINGO!

Dreamland was taken away from one crook but given over to another.



They are now though in administration. The administrators have a legal duty to try to recover as much s the can for the creditors. The business is clearly not viable and it seems unlikely that it can be made viable. The most likely scenario is the administrators will sell of all the assets to recovers as much cash s possible. It is clearly they have failed to find anyone interested in buying it as a going concern

Yes they are probably close to breaking even in July & August but that does not keep them going for 12 months nor does it repay the £6M odd debt.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Bob » 28 Jul 2016, 10:14

aweber1us wrote:That's were you went wrong Bob , your not very good at thinking.



Given Dreamland which is Sands Heritage is loosing money and has £6M of debt and the Administrators have a legal duty to maximise the returns for the creditors how do you expect it to continue trading? It will run out of money be the year end in any case . I will be interested to see how you can make it continue to trade? You cannot legally trade whilst insolvent.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby kevin » 29 Jul 2016, 10:20

From the Dreamland website:

The Scenic Railway is undergoing repairs and we hope she will be operational in the next few days. We apologise for this but she will be back soon!

The amusement park will be open as usual, every day throughout the summer holiday.

Octopus's Garden: The repair work required to the Octopus’s Garden following the heavy rain has meant that it will remain closed until further notice.


This won't help, this is several weeks now!
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby stuart » 29 Jul 2016, 10:35

kevin wrote:The Scenic Railway is undergoing repairs and we hope she will be operational in the next few days. We apologise for this but she will be back soon!


I heard the lift cable has snapped. A new one has had to be made and the Scenic will be open again next week.

kevin wrote:Octopus's Garden: The repair work required to the Octopus’s Garden following the heavy rain has meant that it will remain closed until further notice.


The cost of repairs are being met by the insurer. I'd guess this may also cover the loss of business due to the roof leak too.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Bob » 01 Aug 2016, 18:18

aweber1us wrote:That's were you went wrong Bob , your not very good at thinking.



The news is far worse than expected. The debt figures that were about suggest Dreamland had racked up between £5.5 & £6M but if the ciurrent reports are correct the total debt is over £14M . I am afraid thats the end for Dreamland and expect the closure announcement at the credsitors meeting on Thursday. It will continue to trade untill at least after the August Bank holiday. Its as sad ending for Dreamland but was totally predictable. Further information here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36943108
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby kevin » 01 Aug 2016, 19:28

Reading the BBC article...You couldn't make it up really, could you?
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby aweber1us » 01 Aug 2016, 21:09

I guess when all else fails they could start setting the rides on fire and claim on the Insurance and leaving the site deralict . That's the class act they had to follow .
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby Vince, Charlie and Sam » 01 Aug 2016, 21:41

It;s just so terribly sad to see this going on. Dreamland was wrested from the hand of one crook and handed over to another. But then the hand of Thanet District Council in this murky affair has been commented on on numerous occasions, and with Thanet, you kind of get used to it after a while.
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby kevin » 02 Aug 2016, 10:11

How on earth did they ever get the contract? They had absolutely NO experience of running an amusement park. How much money was wasted with all that luvvy Hemmingway superficial makeover, which only served to inflate his ego?!
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Re: Is It The End for Dreamland. Is the Dream Over?

Postby smilerbaker » 02 Aug 2016, 11:01

why hasn't the save dreamland site been updated? is the campaign getting back up and running behind the scenes? just what is the legal situation with the lease?? WHY THE HELL DO RESIDENTS OF THANET PUT UP WITH THIS !*@%?????? its YOUR council tax these people are divvying up amongst themselves, how has the debt doubled in the past few months??

you guys need to be getting angry, really really angry, you've all been royally shafted, time to take off those rose tinted spectacles, so I'll say it, dreamland is a dump! the rides are rubbish, there isn't enough of them by a long shot, any half decent traveling fair has more and of better quality, this is not poor / mismanagement this has been done on purpose, just say what you know out loud and hear how ridiculous it sounds

the contract was given to a company with ZERO experience
the company is owned by a guy who specializes in hedge funds and property development
they hire CEO who had a string of failures behind her
the star ride wasn't ready on time
they charged just to get in
somehow they manage to secure a debt on the lease after the cva???
the rides have not been maintained
etc etc

until you guys open your eyes to whats going on there is no hope, no more 'yes, but' , they have burned through 14m IN A YEAR and from what I can see have nothing at all to show for it, they could almost have bought a 'the smiler' coaster for that.
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