Enterprise Minister Tim Johnston says lessons have been learnt as the government continues to chase cash from a TT merchandise business which went bust.

Mr Johnston has outlined new safeguards that have been put in place since Cube International Ltd, which held the TT merchandise contract in, collapsed into administration.

The UK-based company has not paid back any of the money owed to the Manx taxpayer.

On December 21, 2023, administrators were appointed to two business related to Cube, namely Cube Management Ltd and Cube Modular Ltd.

At this week’s Tynwald sitting, Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh asked Mr Johnston how much money is owed by Cube International and what efforts have been made to recover the outstanding amount.

The minister explained that the current debt as registered by liquidators of Cube International say £124,270.59 is owed as part of contractual commitments for the 2023 TT and accumulated late payment clauses up until the time the debt was formally registered with the liquidators.

He said: ‘With the support of the Attorney General’s Chambers, every effort has been made to recover outstanding monies within the formal liquidation process, however, this process remains ongoing.’

When asked if this was a satisfactory state of affairs and how long before the amount is just going to be written off, Mr Johnson admitted it was not ideal and said it was February 2024 when liquidators were appointed.

Onchan MHK Rob Callister asked the minister what improvements have been made in respect of due diligence when entering into contracts with new partners.

Mr Johnston said: ‘While the tender was done properly with due diligence, clearly there were areas to improve.

‘What I can say is that with the new contract payments there is a payment contract clause which requires the licensee to make an upfront payment against future sales and must make monthly royalty payments against sales online, at events and in third-party retail channels. We also have new, enhanced credit checks in place.’

He added that the new partnership in place is ‘working very well’.

But he admitted that whether the government gets anything out of the liquidation is unclear as the government is ‘in a queue at the moment’.

The Worcester-based companies, part of the Cube International Group, provided bespoke modular infrastructure for sports industry events, including fan zones, pop-up retail stores, ticket offices, temporary office space and other accommodation.

Administrators Leonard Curtis were engaged by the Group after the companies encountered cash flow difficulties resulting from delays in global sporting events caused by the Covid pandemic.

The administrators previously said that while considerable interest was generated unfortunately a sale of the troubled business was not possible.

They also confirmed that ‘all staff were made redundant prior to the administrators’ appointment’.

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