Some say…Top Gear Experience folds as TV series declines
THE Birmingham company responsible for organising official Top Gear experience days has ceased trading after it encountered financial difficulties due to a decline in demand following the departure of the show’s popular presenting trio.
TGXP, which is registered in the Jewellery Quarter, ceased trading on Wednesday leaving customers who had booked events in disarray.
Little explanation has been provided and the company’s website has been taken down.
There is just a message stating: “Please be advised that TGXP Limited, which operated the Top Gear Track Experience days, has ceased to trade with immediate effect due to its financial position.
“Experience days scheduled for 26, 27 and 28 October 2016 and 3, 4, 17 and 18 November 2016 will not be able to proceed as anticipated and it will not be possible to reschedule.
“We have spoken to all of the third party providers who are aware of the position.”
It said people who had booked events through a third party provider should contact the provider to discuss options.
The company, which offered people the chance to drive around the Top Gear Test Track in a reasonably priced car and visit the studios where the programme is filmed, said it had seen a sharp decline in ticket sales which it attributed to the changes in the popular television show, which had been one of the most popular aired by the BBC with sales around the globe.
Prior to it closing, the website had proclaimed people could “Be the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Earn your own place on our celebrity leaderboard. Get your face reshaped by an Ariel Atom. Hang out in the Top Gear studio”.
The closure of the firm is yet another blow to the programme, which has failed to recover from the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, plus producer Andy Wilman, last year.
It was resurrected earlier this year in a similar format but presented by a combination of Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc.
However, it failed to recapture the spirit of the original and viewing numbers quickly declined.
Evans quit the show after its first series but the corporation, keen to cling on to one of its prized assets – especially after the deflating loss of the Great British Bake-Off – has recently signed up LeBlanc for a two-series deal when it returns next year.
The demise is equally embarrassing for the BBC because the original trio air their new show, The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime next month.
