Couple 'lose everything' as wedding venue goes bust

Nikita Stewart and Jack Smith were due to get married at The Mill at Conder Green on 31 July

"We have lost everything - it's all gone."

Heartbroken bride-to-be Nikita Stewart, 30, and her 31-year-old fiance Jack Smith paid about £6,500 to have their dream wedding this summer at The Mill at Conder Green in Lancaster.

But the Morecambe couple's plans were dashed on Wednesday when administrators called to tell them the venue had closed permanently and it was "unlikely they would get their money back".

A spokesperson for administrators FRP Advisory said they were "in the process of contacting customers and other parties who have been affected by the closure".

The couple were excited about sharing their wedding day with their baby daughter Aubrey

Nikita said the news had left her "numb".

"We thought 'It's going to be a great year - we've had a baby, we are going to get married'," she said.

"I don't think it has hit me yet.

"We have given up so much of our life to pay for this wedding and the venue has just closed.

"They have not even said sorry."

The closed sign on the front doors of The Mill at Conder Green

After being tipped off by a family friend, the couple said they had tried to call the venue.

Unable to raise anyone, they drove to the site and found it "completely empty".

"There was just a piece of paper on the door with a sign that said 'closed' in red writing," Nikita said.

'Shocked'

The mill was built in about 1740 and stands close to a lock serving the Glasson branch of the Lancaster Canal.

The beautiful setting has made it a popular choice for weddings.

The four-star venue won Countryside Wedding Venue of the Year at the 2024 Wedding Fayres Lancashire Wedding Awards.

It has been up for sale, with an asking price of about £2.3m, since last summer.

Nikita said she had been assured that weddings would still be going ahead, with hers booked for 31 July.

The Mill at Conder Green has been closed and deserted since Tuesday, according to Nikita Stewart

Dozens of others have also been left without a wedding venue.

Morecambe couple Jay Murray and James McInnes, both 31, were due to get married there on 7 March.

"We were both shocked when we found out," Jay said.

"We had absolutely no inclination there was anything wrong."

The couple said they had spent £7,500 on their big day and had paid for accommodation for family members travelling from Scotland.

"To think, in that moment, everything had been for nothing was just awful," she said.

Thanks to their wedding insurance, Jay and James say they have been able to reorganise their wedding ceremony for the same date at the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster and then at Lancaster Brewery.

Not everyone has insurance, however.

Venues across Lancashire have been offering their support, honouring deposits and trying to find availability.

"We are lucky we have some great people around us... but I know not everyone is fortunate to be in that situation," Jay added.

Niamh Steed told BBC Lancashire that she and her fiancé had booked to get married at The Mill at Conder Green in May, on the sixth anniversary of their first date, which had also been at the same venue.

Niamh, who said she booked the date three years ago, only found out about the venue's closure thanks to her mum reading about it on Facebook.

She said her fiancé was then contacted by the administrators.

Niamh said she was "a bit angry, a bit overwhelmed and a bit sad", not least because the venue was "really special for us".

She said her and her partner had already paid an initial deposit and were due to pay 25% of the balance this weekend.

They are now searching for an alternative venue, saying they may well have to choose a different day since their intended wedding day coincided with a busy Bank Holiday weekend.

A spokesperson for FRP Advisory said Anthony Collier and Steven Williams had been appointed as joint administrators.

They said the venue had been forced to close during the pandemic and, since then, had "encountered further financial difficulties" due to the pandemic and "a reduction in demand given ongoing cost-of-living pressures".

Mr Collier said: "The Mill at Conder Green is a beautiful property with significant potential, but like many hospitality businesses, has faced considerable challenges in recent years and has subsequently been left in a vulnerable position."

A spokesperson for the administrators added that "all 12 employees have sadly been made redundant" and they would be supporting them with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.

The property is to be put up for sale, the administrators confirmed.

Anyone affected by the closure is asked to email [e-mail] or call 0161 833 3344.