Council accused of 'knowing' castle trust would fail

£3.5M OF DEBT HAS NOW BEEN WRITTEN OFF

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

THE former trust running Nottingham Castle has reached the end of the road, leaving millions unpaid, with its former chairman accusing the city council of "knowing" they would fail.

Nottingham City Council had already agreed to write off a loan worth nearly £2 million that it provided to the Nottingham Castle Trust, which first went into liquidation in November 2022.

The liquidation of the company has just been completed and it has resulted in £3.5 million owed to more than 50 organisations going unpaid.

Nottingham Castle was first taken on by the trust in May 2019 ahead of a £31 million transformation, with the site then reopening in the summer of 2021.

After just over a year of operation, with issues including complaints over ticket prices, the Nottingham Castle Trust went into liquidation in November 2022 and the castle closed again until the city council took back control.

Ted Cantle, the former chairman of the Nottingham Castle Trust and Nottingham City Council's former chief executive, has now accused the authority of essentially setting the trust up to fail.