Breaking News Dreamland, Arrowgrass, Cayman & Ethics

Arrowgrass swanky HQ Portland Square London

Ownership and control of Margate’s Dreamland Amusement Park  and associated buildings is very likely to be  handed over to  Arrowgrass Master Fund Limited according to former Thanet Councillor Ian Driver.

Based in the offshore tax heaven, and millionaires’ playground of Cama Bay, Grand Cayman, Arrowgrass Master Fund is managed  by London based Arrowgrass Capital Partners LLP and a US registered company of the same name. http://camanabay.com/home-visitor/ 

In a document published on Companies House website today, Arrowgrass Master Fund  secured, on  24 October,  charges on the  leaseholds  of 49 Marine Terrace and 50 Marine Terrace in exchange for a loan facility of up to £1million. A previous charge in favour of  Arrowgrass Master Fund , in exchange for a loan of £600,000,  was secured on the main Dreamland Amusement Park site on 27  May 2016.

Said Driver “I cannot see how Dreamland Park operator Sands Heritage Limited, which went  into administration owing  £14.3 million in May, can afford to pay back the £1.6million  plus interest and charges it now owes to Arrowgrass Master Fund. If, as I believe is highly likely, Sands Heritage defaults on its repayments, Arrowgrass will then own the  leasehold of the Dreamland Amusement Park and associated building on Marine Terrace. It would be a tragedy for the Dreamland Amusement Park to end up under the control of what is essentially a tax-dodging hedge fund making the super-rich, even richer, instead of the original Dreamland concept of not-for- profit organisation running the park and investing money  back into Margate. Rather than  helping to regenerate Margate, Dreamland might soon become a golden goose paying massive premiums to wealthy, tax-dodging,  fat-cats”.

“An Arrowgrass takeover of Dreamland also raises other  extremely serious ethical questions”  added Driver “Nick Connnington one of the Directors of Sands Heritage worked for Arrowgrass for a number of years  and has well documented business links with Arrowgrass Director Nicholas Graham Neill going back a long time.  John Peter Adams another director of Sands Heritage also has well documented business links with Niell. In March 2016, only weeks before Sands Heritage went into administration, Connington and Adams set up a company called Brede Hotels Limited. One of the shareholders, but a not a director, of Brede Hotels is Nicholas Neill of Arrowgrass. The company also appears to have taken its name from Neill’s place of residence, Brede Place, Brede, East Sussex.

“Not that I am suggesting any impropriety but taking  £1.6million of secured loans  from a company for which you  previously worked, which has a director with whom you have longstanding and current business links,  is a very unusual situation which, in my opinion.  merits close scrutiny. The question must also be asked whether Connington and Adams or their friends and relatives have any investments in Arrowgrass Master Fund or other related companies and whether such investments might mean they could profit from Sands Heritage failing as a business. At least £20million of public money including £10million from Thanet Council Tax payers, has been invested in the Dreamland Project. The history of the project is extremely murky and there are many questions which need to answered in order to ensure that this massive amount of public money has been spent wisely and properly, one of which is how and why failed company  Sands Heritage was appointed as the Dreamland operator. Along with local MPs Sir Roger Gale and Craig  MacKinlay I call for an independent  public inquiry  into the Dreamland situation.