Latest news with #Yurtel
Scotsman
13-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Collapsed luxury Glastonbury Festival glamping firm debts revealed
From fresh revelations over Glastonbury glamping firm Yurtel's collapse and EDF's takeover of Pod Point, to Octopus investing in African clean tech, Badenoch's business plea, rising jobseeker numbers, and FuelHub's funding push - here are today's top UK business stories. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Luxury Glastonbury glamping firm Yurtel racked up over £2 million in customer debts before collapsing in May. A new report shows some festivalgoers paid up to £16,500 for high-end packages. The Wiltshire-based company has told customers to seek refunds through third parties. Liquidators at Begbies Traynor have confirmed £2.2 million in unsecured claims. Luxury Glastonbury glamping firm Yurtel racked up over £2 million in customer debts before collapsing. | Getty Images EDF takes over Pod Point and Kemi Badenoch's rally cry: More Business in Brief EDF is taking full control of EV charging firm Pod Point in a £10.6 million deal. The move comes after weak EV sales and a falling share price left Pod Point struggling. EDF said the takeover was the only way to secure the company's future. Pod Point runs over 250,000 charging points across the UK. Octopus Energy has acquired Sheffield-based MOPO, a clean tech firm working in Sub-Saharan Africa. MOPO rents out solar-charged batteries, offering a greener alternative to petrol generators. The pay-per-use model helps bring affordable power to underserved communities. Octopus says the deal will accelerate access to clean energy across the region. Kemi Badenoch has urged businesses to 'get on the pitch' and oppose harmful policies. Speaking at a business conference, she said the Conservatives are still their best bet. Her comments came as GDP figures showed the economy shrinking more than expected. She also slammed Labour's planned tax rises, including on family farms. The number of people looking for jobs is rising at the fastest rate in over four years. A report from KPMG and REC says redundancies and fewer vacancies are driving the trend. Permanent job placements fell again in May as firms scaled back recruitment. The data comes from a survey of 400 recruitment agencies across the UK. Meal prep firm FuelHub, used by Man United, Team GB and England Rugby, is seeking new investment. Founded by ex-rugby pro James Laithwaite, it offers healthy, ready-to-go meals for elite athletes. The company has appointed Cortus Advisory to help drive its next phase of B2B growth. Backers already include AJ Bell founder Andy Bell and former director Fergus Lyons.
Scotsman
13-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Collapsed luxury Glastonbury Festival glamping firm debts revealed
From fresh revelations over Glastonbury glamping firm Yurtel's collapse and EDF's takeover of Pod Point, to Octopus investing in African clean tech, Badenoch's business plea, rising jobseeker numbers, and FuelHub's funding push - here are today's top UK business stories. Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Luxury Glastonbury glamping firm Yurtel racked up over £2 million in customer debts before collapsing in May. A new report shows some festivalgoers paid up to £16,500 for high-end packages. The Wiltshire-based company has told customers to seek refunds through third parties. Liquidators at Begbies Traynor have confirmed £2.2 million in unsecured claims. Luxury Glastonbury glamping firm Yurtel racked up over £2 million in customer debts before collapsing. | Getty Images EDF takes over Pod Point and Kemi Badenoch's rally cry: More Business in Brief EDF is taking full control of EV charging firm Pod Point in a £10.6 million deal. The move comes after weak EV sales and a falling share price left Pod Point struggling. EDF said the takeover was the only way to secure the company's future. Pod Point runs over 250,000 charging points across the UK. Octopus Energy has acquired Sheffield-based MOPO, a clean tech firm working in Sub-Saharan Africa. MOPO rents out solar-charged batteries, offering a greener alternative to petrol generators. The pay-per-use model helps bring affordable power to underserved communities. Octopus says the deal will accelerate access to clean energy across the region. Kemi Badenoch has urged businesses to 'get on the pitch' and oppose harmful policies. Speaking at a business conference, she said the Conservatives are still their best bet. Her comments came as GDP figures showed the economy shrinking more than expected. She also slammed Labour's planned tax rises, including on family farms. The number of people looking for jobs is rising at the fastest rate in over four years. A report from KPMG and REC says redundancies and fewer vacancies are driving the trend. Permanent job placements fell again in May as firms scaled back recruitment. The data comes from a survey of 400 recruitment agencies across the UK.
Daily Mirror
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Inside Glastonbury Festival's £28K luxury tents for A-listers
Glasto glamping costs range from hundreds of pounds to guarantee a place to pitch your own tent with hot showers, to tens of thousands of pounds for hot tubs, on-site chefs, helicopters, and even backstage hospitality passes. Glastonbury Festival might have originated from hippy roots, with the very first festival costing just £1 for a ticket, including a pint of milk. Now, after years of sell-out shows, it's the hottest festival ticket every year, and A-list celebrities and those squeamish of facing the dreaded long-drop loos often opt for fancy camping off-site. Glamping ranges from festival staples like Tangerine Fields, with pre-pitched tents, to Camp Kerala, which provides all meals, stunning views, private hotel rooms, and private parties for the rich and famous, thought to cost upwards of £8,225. In 2025, various campsites, including South Park 2 and Oxylers, were reduced in size to accommodate the 210,000+ fans, staff, artists, and crew roaming Worthy Farm for five days of revelry. Meanwhile, former camper van site E24 has been replaced with the Festivue boujie camping option, so space could be at a premium, especially for those arriving later on Thursday or Friday. The festival has had challenges with crowds in recent years, including closing down Sugababes' West Holts set in 2024 due to overcrowding, closing access to Kasabian's Woodsie's secret set, and shutting down Bicep's performance after 20 minutes due to concerns of crushing of fans at the front. Meanwhile, some Glastonbury revellers were left thousands of pounds out of pocket when high-end camping company Yurtel went into administration in May 2025. Their prices ranged from £10,000 for a bell tent to £16,500 for a presidential suite. Glastonbury Festival told the BBC it was "disappointing" for fans who had paid for places with the company, but made it clear that Glastonbury Festival has "no involvement with the operation of Yurtel". In fact, the festival has a page dedicated to advice around off-site camping options, and allows revellers to check in with the festival before booking, to see if they're officially affiliated. With the 2025 Glastonbury Festival merely weeks away, and now with the full line-up and official Vodafone app launched, here's an inside look at the more affordable glamping options, all the way up to the opulent off-site paradise plots for influencers and the rich and famous. This year will see headliners including The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, and Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart takes on the Sunday Legend slot, and Charli XCX, The Prodigy, and Loyle Carner headline The Other Stage. Meanwhile, tickets came in at a hefty £378.50 each, so with glamping on top, costs can easily mount up. Holt Farm Holt Farm prices range from more affordable pitching spots to top-end boutique bell tents for £2,500. The site boasts that the glamping spot is the closest to the main festival site, or "skipping distance to Pedestrian Gate D," allowing you to walk to the main stage within 15 minutes. The company has the same payment system as Yurtel, which liquidated recently. However, they have assured customers on social media that they're a separate entity and just shared a payment platform. Prices: £250 - £2500 Location: This seems to be the closest off-site camping spot, just outside Gate D. Tangerine Fields Tangerine Fields appears at various festivals, including Download, Creamfields, and Boardmasters. For their Glastonbury set-up, they offer four-man tents up to six-man bell tents, along with two locations, one at the blue gate and one at the bronze gate. Meanwhile, you can pre-order chilled drinks available for collection upon arrival, as well as glamour services, blow dries, glitter make-up, massages, facials, and even Reiki and reflexology. Price: £365 - £1,470 (Sold Out) Location: At the top of Cockmill Lane on Pylle Road, approximately 350 metres from the Pedestrian Gate B. Pilton Hill Camping Pilton Hill Camping also offer parking, flushing loos, and hot showers for festival fans, with some slightly more affordable prices. These range from bell tents with beds inside, but nothing else. Then, at the upper end, you can get a 5m bell tent with a sprung bed mattress and bedding all included. However, the cheaper prices likely reflect that this camping site is further away. Prices: £400 - £1,090 Location: Seemingly one of the further glamping options available. Accessible at Crossways Lane, North Wootton, BA4 4HN. The website explains, 'our campers bus, cycle, taxi and walk. The distance to Gate A is just 1.6 miles.' You can also find Pilton Hill Camping via their What3Words location: /// Tipis, Sticklinch, Caravans and Worthy View Yep, even Glastonbury offers its own boujie camping options. The iconic Worthy View, which sits above the Stone Circle, is the most well-known, along with Festival Tipi Village. Meanwhile, there are the extended pre-pitched pod pads in Sticklinch, towards South Park 2, with a less challenging walk and doll's house-style plastic huts. Finally, there's the camper van fields, which charge £200-£300 per pitch. Unfortunately, given their popularity each year, these are now all sold out. View this post on Instagram Pitching It Pitching It boasts a 15-minute walk to Gate D at Glastonbury Festival, along with hot showers, luxury loos, hot tubs, a covered bar with a chillout area, a pamper area with charging points, private parking as close as 100m from your tent, allowing you to come and go as you please, and their own on-site security. Meanwhile, they also have a free shuttle bus running back from Gate A to the glamping site each evening. Location: A short walk from pedestrian gates A and D. See the map here. Tinkerbell Tent Hire Tinkerbell Tent offers pre-pitched tents, comfy duvets, pillows, and a country pub just next door with lovely views of the Glastonbury Tor. Meanwhile, a festival shuttle bus runs to the Bronze Gate every two hours. Location: Their closest gate is the Bronze Gate. Map and details here. Camp Crossways Camp Crossways is located in the grounds of a 5-star hotel and includes pre-pitched bell tents and campervan spots. There's a free shuttle bus to the Bronze Gate, which runs between midday and 1 a.m. (or it's a 25-minute walk). Meanwhile, there are hot showers, a pamper room, and free parking. You can also upgrade to a full English cooked breakfast in their award-winning restaurant. Prices: £899 - £4,000 Location: The site is located on the grounds of the 5-star hotel Crossways at North Wootton, a short distance from the festival, with the use of some of the amenities of this deluxe hotel. There is a free shuttle to the Bronze Gate. The address is Camp Crossways North Wootton BA4 4EU. You can view a map here. Ziggu Camping Ziggu is a popular camping option with festival fans. Its benefits include private parking, secret spa events, hot tubs, live music, an on-site bar, beauty pamper area, high-end furnished bell tents, and even IV drips. Location: The 24-hour shuttle services take around 3 minutes and run to and from a designated area just inside the Bronze Gate at the Festival Site, which is located just off the A361. This will provide our customers with walking access to Pedestrian Gates A. You can also view a map here. Glampville The Glampville site was formerly known as Glastotel and includes private parking for £35 each, a pamper parlour, a 24-hour festival shuttle bus, morning yoga sessions, and the option to upgrade to a full breakfast. The top-end options can get you a huge Emperor Bell Tent with multiple mattress beds, bedding, and pillows for you and your friends. Meanwhile, in previous years, they've hosted secret sets, including Gorgon City, Cousin Kula, and Sam Evans. Meanwhile, in previous years, they also hosted a welcome party on Wednesday. Festivue Festivue is one of the newer boutique glamping options around Glastonbury. Like the others, it has fancy showers and toilets. It's based on the east side of the festival near the Pyramid and Acoustic stages. There's a pamper tent with mirrors, hairdryers, and plug points for straighteners, a chill-out area, and an on-site bar and food. Location: Festivue is located on the edge of the east (quiet) campervan fields, approximately 500m from pedestrian Gate C. The Acoustic stage is approximately a seven-minute walk away, with the cider bus and Pyramid Stage less than a 12-minute walk. More details here. Willows Meadows Willow Meadows at Glastonbury Festival is a 10-15 minute walk from Gate D and includes hot showers, flushing toilets, food and drink shops, power, parking, and on-site security. The glamping site offers pre-pitched tents, which have mostly sold out now, as well as portacabins for £2,999. ZooTopia Prices: £2,325 - £3,025 Location: Zootopia is located approximately 15 minutes walk from Gate D at Glastonbury Festival and 30 minutes walk from the Pyramid Stage. You can see their location on the Glastonbury 2023 map here. Breakfast is included every morning of your stay, along with flushing toilets, hot showers, towels, a pamper area, chill-out space, bars, restaurants, and salon services. Penard Orchard The Pennard Orchard has a bar, restaurant with daily complimentary breakfast, daybeds, free newspapers, luxury toilets, hot showers, IV drips, massages, saunas, cold plunges, a hair and makeup area, and a 24-hour concierge team. You can arrive by helicopter, and the team claims to be able to arrange VIP hospitality passes for the festival. Accommodations range from bell tents to luxury yurts and majestic tipis. Prices: Available on request, but roughly starting from £3,600. Inner Sanctum Pilton Inner Sanctum Pilton includes options for VIP yurts and tipis with a complimentary five-star breakfast, a private bar, spa, restaurant, and private shuttle. Prices: £2,100 - £5,000 Location: 'Our main gates are just a mile away from Pedestrian Gate B on the East side of the festival. Our official drop-off/pick-up point is Bronze gate, which is on the West side (Pedestrian gate A). It is also possible to walk the 1.5km footpath to Pedestrian Gate B. There are also shuttles available.' Map and more details here. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hotel Melody (@hotelmelody_) Hotel Melody Now we're really getting into the high-end options, new for this year, Hotel Melody includes a sauna, swimming pool, cocktail bar, yoga, hair and make-up, 24-hour shuttle, restaurant, hot tubs, hot showers, and even the option to upgrade to helicopter arrivals. Plus, for their inaugural year, Hotel Melody has arranged a host of musical acts to play exclusively for them, including Becky Hill, Liam Palmer and Elliot Schooling, Eliza Rose and many more. Accommodation ranges from bell tents with full beds to full RVs that sleep four people, with a kitchen and fridge. Prices: From £2,000 - £9,995 Location: As with the other glamping options, there's 24-hour private transport to the festival. It drops you off at the Bronze gate in 10 minutes and allows you to access the festival either through pedestrian gate A or D. Here is a map of the Hotel Melody camping site. The Pop Up Hotel The Pop Up Hotel is exactly that, nestled 10 minutes from Gate D, featuring hot showers, flushing toilets, a spa, a salon, a swimming pool, a valet, helicopter landings, and lots of food options. Due to overwhelming demand, they've opened up an additional field called The Orcard with access to the same facilities. Options range from safari tents with furniture to pop-up penthouses for £14K, and mega-flash tipi tenthouse, which sleeps ten people and comes in at a whopping £28K. Glastonbury Retreat Glastonbury Retreat includes mattresses, cotton bedding, safari and house tents with power, a pamper area, live music on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, a 24-hour buggy service for your baggage, along with security and on-site parking. Prices: Available on request, but potentially £13,500 upwards. Location: The retreat is located in a private field just outside the festival grounds, a short 5-minute walk (approx 900 metres) from Gate B. Maps and more information are here. You can also find them via their What3Words location: Pennard Hill Farm Pennard Hill Farm is one of the most stunning Glastonbury glamping options available. The site is on top of a hill, with views of the festival site, and access is exclusively for a very limited number of guests. Perks include a restaurant, fully stocked bar, massage parlour, ice baths, saunas, and accommodation that ranges from yurts and bell tents to cottages, tree tents, safari tents, and log cabins. Prices: Available upon request. Location: Gully's Gate is the closest, next to the Sticklynch gate. A 7-minute walk from the farm, and 10 10-minute walk up a hill from the festival, however, there is transport available, too. Love Fields Love Fields claims to be the closest independent festival accommodation near the site, nestled just outside Gate C, near the Acoustic Stage and Pilton Palais. They have three separate fields, with options that include all of your food, drink, and festival tickets, to self-catered options, along with showers, 24-hour security and more. Location: Love Fields is on private land just outside Pedestrian Gate C on the East side of the festival site near the Acoustic Tent. There are just 42 steps from our gate to Pedestrian Gate C. Once inside the festival site, you are a 15-minute walk from the Pyramid Stage and the heart of the festival. Camp Kerala The ultimate Glastonbury VIP glamping experience seems to be Camp Kerala, secluded in a secret location, accommodation includes full houses, high-end luxury tents, safari tents and more. There's a bar and terrace that overlooks the festival site, as well as artists painting throughout your stay, live music, a spa, the option to buy hospitality packages with backstage tickets, all-inclusive food options with two restaurants, and chauffeurs who drop you off at the festival 24/7. Plus free pamper goodies, Fortnum and Mason gift baskets, fruit platters, and so much more. Take a peek behind the scenes at one of their tents here. Location: Location is unclear, but there is a chauffeur service that provides seamless transport to the Glastonbury festival.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Absolutely gutted': £16,500 Glastonbury packages won't be fulfilled after company goes bust
Glastonbury ticket holders have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after a luxury glamping company went bust. Festival-goers who booked their tickets and accommodation with Yurtel have been told the company can no longer fulfil its orders and has ceased trading with immediate effect. Money: Some had spent more than £16,500 through Yurtel, with hospitality packages starting at £10,000. In an email, Yurtel said it was unable to provide customers with any refunds, advising them to go through a third party to claim back the money once the liquidation process had started. To add insult to injury, customers found out that Yurtel had failed to purchase the tickets for the 25 -29 June festival that they thought had been booked as part of their packages. In a letter to customers, Yurtel's founder Mickey Luke said: "I am deeply sorry that you have received this devastating news and am writing to apologise. "Yurtel is a hospitality business who pride themselves on looking after our customers, delivering a unique product and striving to create a better client experience year on year. Due to a culmination of factors over the past years, we have failed to be able to continue to do so and are heartbroken." The Money blog has contacted Yurtel to see if the business has anything to add. Several people have also reported that they were unable to pay by credit card at the time of booking, with the company instead asking for a bank transfer. This means they are unable to use chargeback to get a refund. You can read more about that here... 'I feel really ripped off' One of those customers was Lydia, who told Money she was "absolutely gutted" after spending thousands. This year's festival was "really important" to her as she was forced to miss out last year despite having tickets due to a health issue that left her needing an operation. "We tried to get Glastonbury tickets through the normal kind of route and couldn't get them," the accountant said. She ended up booking with Yurtel in November, sending over all the funds a month later. "It's super expensive. It was really, really important to us. Last year was gutting with the surgery and the whole situation around that was very traumatic, so it was a very special thing to then get the opportunity to go this year. It's really gutting," she said. "I feel really ripped off and I'm really disappointed in the festival, to be honest. I think that response is just pretty rubbish." More from Money:How roaming fees compare by network Yurtel did not pay for festival tickets, Glastonbury says Glastonbury said Yurtel was one of a small number of campsites local to the festival site - Worthy Farm - with limited access to purchase hospitality tickets for their guests in certain circumstances. But, it had not paid for any tickets for the 2025 festival before going into liquidation, and so no tickets were secured for its guests, it added. Every year, Glastonbury's website says that ticketing firm See Tickets is the only official source for buying tickets for the festival. "As such we have no records of their bookings and are unable to take any responsibility for the services and the facilities they offer," the festival said. "Anyone who has paid Yurtel for a package including Glastonbury 2025 tickets will need to pursue any potential recompense available from them via the liquidation process as outlined in their communication to you. "We are not able to incur the cost or responsibility of their loss or replacement." Instead, the festival has urged Yurtel customers to contact Yurtel@ to confirm their consent for personal data and details of their party to be shared with Glastonbury. "We will then be able to provide details of alternative potential sources for those customers to purchase tickets and accommodation for this year's festival," the festival added. 'Only option' on offer is 'pretty weak' Lydia said she agreed for her details to be passed on to Glastonbury, and the festival has told her the only option is to pay for the tickets again from another provider. "They are not giving us the opportunity to buy the tickets at face value. We would then have to go again and spend another stupidly unreasonable amount of money to be able to go. It's pretty disappointing," she added. "It's pretty weak that the only option they're giving people who've already lost out on huge amounts of money is to go and spend huge amounts more money." It's left her feeling like she won't go to the festival this year - and she's not hopeful about getting her money back. She said: "To be honest, I just don't think I can afford it. "It's already so much money wasted, and I'm not at all optimistic we'll get anything back."
Sky News
30-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
'Absolutely gutted': £16,500 Glastonbury packages won't be fulfilled after company goes bust
Glastonbury ticket holders have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after a luxury glamping company went bust. Festival-goers who booked their tickets and accommodation with Yurtel have been told the company can no longer fulfil its orders and has ceased trading with immediate effect. Some had spent more than £16,500 through Yurtel, with hospitality packages starting at £10,000. In an email, Yurtel said it was unable to provide customers with any refunds, advising them to go through a third party to claim back the money once the liquidation process had started. To add insult to injury, customers found out that Yurtel had failed to purchase the tickets for the 25 -29 June festival that they thought had been booked as part of their packages. In a letter to customers, Yurtel's founder Mickey Luke said: "I am deeply sorry that you have received this devastating news and am writing to apologise. "Yurtel is a hospitality business who pride themselves on looking after our customers, delivering a unique product and striving to create a better client experience year on year. Due to a culmination of factors over the past years, we have failed to be able to continue to do so and are heartbroken." The Money blog has contacted Yurtel to see if the business has anything to add. Several people have also reported that they were unable to pay by credit card at the time of booking, with the company instead asking for a bank transfer. This means they are unable to use chargeback to get a refund. You can read more about that here... 'I feel really ripped off' One of those customers was Lydia, who told Money she was "absolutely gutted" after spending thousands. This year's festival was "really important" to her as she was forced to miss out last year despite having tickets due to a health issue that left her needing an operation. "We tried to get Glastonbury tickets through the normal kind of route and couldn't get them," the accountant said. She ended up booking with Yurtel in November, sending over all the funds a month later. "It's super expensive. It was really, really important to us. Last year was gutting with the surgery and the whole situation around that was very traumatic, so it was a very special thing to then get the opportunity to go this year. It's really gutting," she said. "I feel really ripped off and I'm really disappointed in the festival, to be honest. I think that response is just pretty rubbish." Yurtel did not pay for festival tickets, Glastonbury says Glastonbury said Yurtel was one of a small number of campsites local to the festival site - Worthy Farm - with limited access to purchase hospitality tickets for their guests in certain circumstances. But, it had not paid for any tickets for the 2025 festival before going into liquidation, and so no tickets were secured for its guests, it added. Every year, Glastonbury's website says that ticketing firm See Tickets is the only official source for buying tickets for the festival. "As such we have no records of their bookings and are unable to take any responsibility for the services and the facilities they offer," the festival said. "Anyone who has paid Yurtel for a package including Glastonbury 2025 tickets will need to pursue any potential recompense available from them via the liquidation process as outlined in their communication to you. "We are not able to incur the cost or responsibility of their loss or replacement." Instead, the festival has urged Yurtel customers to contact Yurtel@ to confirm their consent for personal data and details of their party to be shared with Glastonbury. "We will then be able to provide details of alternative potential sources for those customers to purchase tickets and accommodation for this year's festival," the festival added. 'Only option' on offer is 'pretty weak' Lydia said she agreed for her details to be passed on to Glastonbury, and the festival has told her the only option is to pay for the tickets again from another provider. "They are not giving us the opportunity to buy the tickets at face value. We would then have to go again and spend another stupidly unreasonable amount of money to be able to go. It's pretty disappointing," she added. "It's pretty weak that the only option they're giving people who've already lost out on huge amounts of money is to go and spend huge amounts more money." It's left her feeling like she won't go to the festival this year - and she's not hopeful about getting her money back. She said: "To be honest, I just don't think I can afford it.
