Live Comedy Association asks Big Difference Company trustees – where has the money gone?
The Live Comedy Association (LCA) has sent a list of questions to the trustees of Leicester Comedy Festival promoters Big Difference Company. The questions were compiled at an online meeting held on Sunday with people affected by the non payment of ticket money. The questions can be seen below and the responses will be made public once a reply has been received. The questions have been sent to the Chair of the Trustees Chris Traill and other members of the board.
Over 20 promoters, comedians, suppliers and staff met to discuss the situation with LCA Directors. From what people know registered charity Big Difference Company ceased trading earlier this month owing in excess of £100,000. The exact figure, and the number of individuals and organisations affected, has yet to be made public.
The questions to the Trustees are:
“in your audited accounts from 29th June 2024 there is reference to the reserves policy not being met and changes are required to the business/charity to ensure its long term sustainability. What specific changes were made at this time?”
“how much money was raised in financial year 2025/2026 from donations and fundraising activity? How specific activities was this spent on to help achieve the charities objectives?”
“did Trustees know at the time that the CEO promised promoters in November 2025 that ticket money from Leicester Comedy Festival 2026 would be ringfenced, safe in a separate bank account?”
“how much money has been lost in total? What is the size of the debt and how many people or organisations are owed money?”
“when were the Trustees first made aware of the policy/process of using money from ticket sales to pay core costs of the BDC? Who signed this off?”
“following Leicester Comedy Festival 2026 we know some people were paid. How did you decide who received payment?”
“what was the £150k (or more) funding/income you were expecting to have by August that you didn’t get?”
“we know a community, libraries project was planned for June 2026 and acts were booked for this. We understand the income for this project was a successful funding bid from a public agency. Where have the funds gone?”
LCA Chair, Jessica Toomey said “we wish we weren’t in a position to have to ask these questions but the Big Difference Trustees have been annoyingly silent since the announcement they were ceasing trading was made earlier this month. As a charity they have a responsibility to communicate with the community they were supposed to benefit and we hope the Trustees will reply to our questions soon so we can update our members and the wider grassroots live comedy community. We have asked them to reply by the end of this month.
We invited the Trustees to attend the meeting on Sunday but they replied saying they had “concluded that it would not be helpful for us to do so at this stage”.”
The meeting also allowed people to meet the producers of Leicester’s new Independent Comedy Festival which will take place from 3-21 February 2027