Isle of Wight Council says it is £350,000 out of pocket after Tour of Britain stage cancelled due to Queen’s death

UPDATE: In reply to a request for comment from road.cc, on Monday 9 January 2022 SweetSpot offered the following statement addressing the Isle of Wight Council's comments below.

We have been talking with the Isle of Wight Council since September's cancellation about next steps, with our first, and preferred, option being to host a stage of a future edition of the Tour of Britain (2024) on the island to replace the one that couldn't take place in 2022.

Given the excitement around the stage and huge amount of work over the previous two years that had gone into it, it would be a real shame if a stage of the Tour of Britain could not now take place on the Isle of Wight.

Therefore, our hope is that we are able to agree to this with stakeholders following a long-scheduled meeting with them this week. If this agreement is not possible then we will discuss alternative options with colleagues from the Isle of Wight Council.

Contingency cover in the event of a death of a senior member of the Royal Family has been prohibitively expensive and commercially unviable for some time, even more so following the crippling impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the events industry, which prevented us from running any of our races for nearly 700 days.

As a result, insurance did not cover the enforced cancellation of the event following the passing of Her Majesty the Queen on Thursday 8 September 2022.

The Isle of Wight Council says it has been left £350,000 out of pocket after the final stage of the 2022 Tour of Britain was cancelled in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

The eight-day stage race had initially been scheduled to conclude with a hill-top finish on the island off the south coast of England in 2021. However, when the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the postponement of the 2020 race, organisers SweetSpot – instead of completely scrapping that year’s route – simply shunted it to the following year, meaning the original plans for 2021 also had to be delayed.

Speaking at the time of the island’s confirmation as the final stage of the 2022 Tour in July 2020, Conservative council leader Dave Stewart said: “Securing the Tour of Britain is a major coup for the Island and just what is needed to help boost the local economy after the devastating impact of coronavirus.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the stunning landscapes of the Island to an international audience, attracting spectators locally and from afar to enjoy world-class cycling. Just as the Isle of Wight is synonymous with sailing, so too I hope we can become a mecca for all things cycling with Tour of Britain and other exciting cycling events in the pipeline.”

> Tour of Britain cancelled following Queen's death 

However, with the Tour of Britain finally set for a thrilling denouement on the Isle of Wight as British star Tom Pidcock snapped at the heels of overall leader (and eventual winner) Gonzalo Serrano, the death of Queen Elizabeth II midway through the race on 8 September forced the organisers to cancel the Tour’s remaining three stages.

The Isle of Wight County Press has reported this week that the island’s council has claimed that the organisers’ decision – a necessary one in the circumstances – has cost the local authority £350,000, including the £250,000 paid to SweetSpot to host the event.

The council told the newspaper that its contract with SweetSpot stipulated that in the case of an extraordinary event beyond either party’s control, a ‘force majeure’, the authority would be entitled to a refund of the host venue fees, after real costs had been deducted.

However, despite arguing that SweetSpot is “suitably insured” for such instances, the council claimed that it was “made clear” immediately by the Surrey-based events company that “'it would not be in a position to refund any of the money”.

The council also claimed that, thanks to the last-minute cancellation, they incurred further costs not covered by the organisers, including those related to road closure orders, marketing, and public relations expenses.

While some costs were able to be recouped, the council says they still had to pay around £100,000. Some sponsorship agreements to cover the costs had been reportedly agreed, but these fell through when the stage did not take place.

> Tour de Yorkshire bites the dust – but a new one-day event may replace it

However, the council did acknowledge that some financial benefits had been identified despite the stage’s cancellation.  

According to the Isle of Wight County Press, discussions have continued between the council and SweetSpot, with the authority saying that agreement has been reached to provide a sum against a future cycling event on the island, which will be considered by the council’s corporate scrutiny committee on 10 January.