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PICTURE: Georgina Edwards Photography
OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS
‘The Black Deer Festival saw close to 10,000 people descend on Eridge Park’
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Wednesday June 26 | 2019
Fifth arrest in LCF mini-bond scandal ANOTHER man has been arrested in connection with Tunbridge Wellsbased investment firm that collapsed earlier this year owing £237million to 11,500 people. Paul Careless, 43, who runs Brighton-based Surge Financial, which did the marketing for London Capital & Finance [LCF] was arrested last week. It is the first arrest by the Serious Fraud Office since February when four men were questioned in connection with the collapse of the Eridge-based firm.
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By Richard Williams NEARLY 20,000 visitors came to Tunbridge Wells during last week as festivals, events, sporting fixtures and soaring temperatures drew in crowds from far and wide. In a week in which Tunbridge Wells enjoyed some fantastic sunshine, revellers came in their thousands to attend the various events that were arranged in and around the town. At the weekend, 10,000 people descended on Eridge Park for the Black Deer Festival, as the weather matched that of the Deep South. The weekend also saw 7,000 people head to the second Gin and Jazz Festival, which organisers say was one of the ‘best and busiest events’ ever put on at The Pantiles. And this was in addition to the thousand or so keen music fans who
turned out for Thursday’s regular jazz night. Earlier in the week, thousands of sports fans watched four days of county cricket at the Nevill Ground, as Kent took on Nottinghamshire – and won.
Revellers came in their thousands to attend various events “There is a lot going on at the moment in Tunbridge Wells,” commented Deirdre Wells OBE, Chief Executive of
Visit Kent. “Events such as Black Deer do a number of things. Firstly, they really catch people’s eye, helping bring them into the area, and secondly they help broaden the appeal of a town. “Festivals and events also bring new audiences and diversity into a town.” With tourism responsible for £4billion of Kent’s economy, she added: “Tunbridge Wells is doing a really fantastic job in contributing to that with everything that’s going on.” The busy week has also been a boom for hotels, which have
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PICTURE: @jameskaymedia
Summer festivals bring the crowds and major boost to town’s economy
LCF was setup by Tunbridge Wells businessman and former local Conservative party chairman, Simon Hume-Kendall. Last month, the fraud squad froze assets belonging to Hume-Kendall and several other men, including Hadlow Down businessman Elten Barker, Spencer Golding from Crowborough and former LCF chief executive Andy Thomson. Savers had thought money invested into LCF ‘mini-bonds’ were going to a range of start-ups, generating returns as high as 8 per cent, but in reality money went to a small number of companies in what administrators called ‘highly suspicious’ transactions. Brighton-based Surge Marketing, was paid £57million for what they say was representative of the commissions paid in the sector. Asked about the arrest, a spokesman for Mr Careless said: “Paul Careless has not been charged and he is not on bail. “Surge was a third-party supplier of services used in relation to raising investment for LCF. It did not handle client money and had no involvement in the deployment of funds to borrowing companies.’