Late last year, Her Honour Judge Owen, sitting in Mold County Court, granted Wrexham County Borough Council’s (‘Wrexham’s’) application under the Enterprise Act 2002 for a final enforcement order against a music festival organiser.
The organiser repeatedly organised and subsequently cancelled music festivals over a 4-year period, thereafter failing to provide consumers with timely, or any, refunds, leading to consumer detriment estimated at over c.£100,000. Wrexham’s invitations for the organiser to sign an undertaking under s.219 of the Enterprise Act were rebuffed, and applications were issued for an interim enforcement order under s.218 of the Enterprise Act and for a final enforcement order under s.217 of the Enterprise Act.
Utilising an oft overlooked and underused provision of the Enterprise Act, the enforcement order prohibits the organiser from, amongst other matters:
- Failing to provide timely refunds
- Failing to provide timely responses to complaints
- Including and/or relying on contractual terms that prohibit refunds
- Failing to update all customers of changes to refunds policies
- Failing to obtain any necessary event licence and/or notice prior to advertising and/or selling services
- Failing to apply in good time for any necessary event licence and/or event notice prior to the commencement of a service
- Failing to comply with event licence conditions
- Continuing to advertise and/or sell services in circumstances where the services are unlikely to be provided
- Providing and/or intending to provide a service of a fundamentally different nature to that advertised.
It also imposes a number of enhanced consumer measures, including requiring membership of an accredited trade organisation which supports a consumer redress scheme, and alternative dispute resolution scheme, for the protection of consumers. Any breach of the order may result in the organiser being held in contempt of court.
This order is expected to be one of the last such orders made under the Enterprise Act, prior to the new enforcement order regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 coming into force in April 2025. These new provisions, which are effectively a bolstered-up version of the previous Enterprise Act regime, are expected to be used in the future with greater regularity against businesses and individuals alike.
Sabrina Goodchild acted for Wrexham County Borough Council.
Press articles on the case can be found below: