Liverpool to pay £685k over failed theatre

Liverpool Council is expected to pay £685,000 in administration costs for a theatre that failed under a fraudster's management. 

The authority will meet on Friday (July 30) to discuss plans to transfer the lease for Epstein Theatre to a new operator, Epstein Entertainments Limited, and rehire staff who were made redundant for an autumn reopening.

Former Assistant Manager Kelvin Lloyd was jailed in 2019 after defrauding the theatre of £273,000.

The council attempted to transfer the lease then but threats of legal action from former operator Epstein Theatre Limited and the pandemic delayed the handover and increased the administrator's costs by £117,000.

Auditors will review how the situation at the Epstein Theatre unfolded.