Musicians won’t be paid by failed London orchestra

Remember the London Chamber Orchestra, which went bust a year back? Many players are unlikely ever to be paid, says the Musicians Union:

Dear Member,

I am writing to update you on our efforts to recover money you are owed by the London Chamber Orchestra for work undertaken before it ceased trading last year.

You may be aware that my colleague Dawn Rodger, MU Solicitor, has been supporting a member with Small Claims Court proceedings to seek to recover the fee they were owed. This member volunteered for bringing a test case rather than everyone doing so, as the likelihood of successfully enforcing a judgment against the company looked slim. Unfortunately, we have learned today that London Chamber Society Limited – the Defendant company which contracted you as musicians and put on concerts and programmes – has been dissolved following a compulsory strike off.

That means the entity which engaged you, and which owes you money, no longer exists and the Small Claims proceedings will cease.

Alongside pursuing this avenue, we were contacted by a group with links to LCO who wished to preserve the name and heritage of the organisation going forward. Some of these people have since become trustees of The London Chamber Orchestra Trust, a charity which has played a role in generating income which was then spent by London Chamber Society Limited to deliver work.

From what we have been able to ascertain through our legal advisors, there seems to be no course of action against the charity to reclaim your losses.

That said, the people involved have said they would like to deal with the money owed as best they can, and Jamie Pullman, London Regional Organiser, and I have been in negotiation with them for some months.

Following some new information received early this year, we have recently updated the amount owed and await an updated offer from them in the light of the revised figure.

If they come back with an offer that is reasonable it will be possible to launch a ballot in the next few weeks. Given that more than 40 members are involved in this claim, we will need to treat it as a collective situation and take the result of the indicative ballot to the Executive Committee for endorsement.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or the colleague who has been assisting you. I will be in touch when I have more firm information about the offer.

With best wishes,

The Londoner has more background on the story.

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