UK greyhound racing business in liquidation with £4m debts

Liquidators from TruSolv Ltd were appointed for Henlow Racing Limited on July 27 after a meeting on the same day.

At that meeting it was decided that the company would be wound up voluntarily in a process known as creditors voluntary liquidation.

Henlow Racing Limited was based in Lincolnshire then Nottinghamshire but since June has been headquartered in Oxfordshire at the Oxford Stadium on Sandy Lane.

READ MORE: Oxford Stadium £2m in debt and 2 months late on accounts

Kevin Boothby is the director of both Oxford Stadium and Henlow Racing Ltd, with both involved in greyhound racing.

The latter company was in charge of a racing track in Bedfordshire, which opened in the 1920s but had its last race in 2024 according to the BBC.

This came after an attempt by the company to renew the lease on the site was rejected by the landowner.

The news outlet added that the area would instead become a 75-home development with the 1,000-seater stadium and accompanying restaurant being dismantled.

Kevin Boothby is the managing director of Oxford Stadium (Image: Fortitude Communications)

Dog trainers were allowed to move sites to either the Oxford Stadium or other facilities in Northamptonshire and Suffolk.

In Henlow Racing’s latest accounts to December 31, 2023, it was revealed that it had creditors of £4,159,265 falling within a year including to trade creditors and taxation and social security.

In addition, it logged 39 employees.

Henlow Racing Limited is not the only one of Mr Boothby’s business to suffer financial difficulties, with Oxford Stadium now over half a year late on submitting its latest accounts.

Oxford Stadium, where Henlow Racing was based (Image: Oxford Speedway)

To the end of 2023, Oxford Stadium’s latest accounts revealed creditors worth £2,005,715 at the end of 2023.

In its statement for the year to December 31, 2023, it listed £108,077 worth of trade creditors, £68,399 for taxation and social security, £23,180 on accruals and deferred income and £1,806,059 of other creditors.

The total was significantly more than the financial document lists for the end of 2022 when its short-term creditors was listed at £1,260,559.

READ MORE: Oxford Stadium in deal with UK lender amid financial fears

Its latest accounts – for the year end 2024 – are almost half a year late and the Government does charge private companies for late submission with the penalty possibly rising to £1,500 if the accounts remain absent.

In 2022, the venue relaunched after a regeneration project which saw £1 million invested including into kennel and veterinary facilities.

More recently, it has been confirmed as a filming destination for Mobland, a “popular returning TV drama that follows the fates and fortunes of a London crime family” starring Pierce Brosnan.