Film producer’s 50 firms struck off companies register, leaving workers unable to chase fees

A prolific film producer, whose projects have starred the likes of Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer and Four Weddings and a Funeral’s Anna Chancellor , has had scores of his production businesses forcibly removed from the UK’s companies register, leaving workers unable to chase unpaid fees. Alan Latham, whose low-budget films have previously raised questions over his use of tax credits , has seen 50 of his film businesses compulsorily struck off by Companies House, according to data compiled by the film workers’ union, Bectu. A compulsory strike off occurs when Companies House dissolves a company for failing certain legal obligations, such as ignoring warnings to file annual accounts or statements providing information on shareholders. Failure to make these filings on time is a criminal offence and offending companies are frequently struck off. However, once a company is removed from the register there is no longer an entity for creditors to make claims against. Film workers have told the Guardian that they have been unable to collect debts owed to them by Latham’s former businesses, including ones that have been struck off. One of Latham’s companies, City Girls Productions, was set up to produce the film City Girls, starring Elizabeth Hurley , which began filming in Yorkshire during 2021 but was abandoned after a member of the cast contracted Covid-19. One crew member said she was among a number of film workers beginning their careers who were not fully paid. …