A wedding entertainment firm left ‘heartbroken’ couples thousands of pounds out of pocket by taking bookings after it had already gone bust, an investigation has found.
Frederick Reeves, 49, also known as Jamie, and Claire Reeves, 41, ran ‘The Best Singing Waiters’ – a company that hired ‘servers’ who would suddenly burst into song at weddings and other big social events.
However, brides and grooms were left ‘devastated’ when the performers did not turn up on their big day – despite them having paid for the service in full.
One mother of the bride last year told MailOnline how she lost £1,400 after booking two waiters from the firm as a surprise for her daughter’s wedding.
Kathryn Dean, aged 60, from Liverpool, paid Mr Reeves in two installments in 2021 and only found out the firm had gone bust on social media.
Now it has emerged that the Wigan-based company continued to take payments totalling £43,590 from 43 customers, despite being in severe financial difficulty.
A probe by the Insolvency Service found that the husband and wife duo knew there was ‘no reasonable expectation they could provide the services they offered’.
Mr and Mrs Reeves have now been banned as company directors for eight years by the government agency.
The Best Singing Waiters, which was also known as Solfan1, eventually went into liquidation with debts of more than £700,000 and assets of just over £168,000.
Frederick Reeves, 49, also known as Jamie (pictured) ran ‘The Best Singing Waiters’ – a company that hired ‘servers’ who would suddenly burst into song at weddings
Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Couples were left heartbroken after finding out the singing waiters they had paid to perform at their weddings would not show up.
‘Several of the customers who lost out financially were even offered discounts by the company to make their payment in full at the time of the booking.
‘The serious misconduct that both Frederick and Claire Reeves displayed falls short of the standards we expect of company directors which is why they have both been disqualified until May 2033.’
Speaking to MailOnline about her experience last year, Ms Dean said she was convinced she would never get her money back.
She said: ‘The singing waiters were going to be a surprise for all the guests.
‘My daughter was devastated when we found out.
‘I felt sick – this was my daughter’s wedding day after all.
‘I still just can’t believe that someone could do this to somebody else.
‘If Jamie really wanted to, he could have covered our wedding for himself – he has all the equipment.’
She said that she first got in touch with The Best Singing Waiters in February 2021 and paid a deposit of £800.
Ms Dean said: ‘I was dead excited – it was the first thing that we booked.
‘I was thinking at the time “what a way to get a wedding started”.
Photo shared by The Best Singer Waiters to advertise their company on their Facebook page
‘I paid the second instalment of £800 in November 2021 and I thought it was all sorted. Jamie kept in contact and he would send me videos of his work.
‘Then on March 8 of this year [2024] I gave him another call and spoke to the office manager. We went through the song list.
‘She said we would need to provide lunch for the two singers – this was fine so I rang up the catering company and paid for this.
‘She then said thank you very much and there is nothing else we need to do now.
She also sent me videos of the two singing waiters were going to have on the day.
‘Then I heard nothing else until I just saw on social media that they had closed down.
‘On May 10 [2024], I got one automated email saying that they had gone into administration.’
Ms Dean said it was very unlikely that she would get her money back through insolvency services and that given more than 150 days had passed she wouldn’t be able to get a refund on her credit card.
Dozens of couples were affected by The Best Singing Waiters going bust and several hit out on social media at the time.
One bride-to-be posted on Facebook: ‘Our wedding is in 4 weeks. We’re absolutely gutted.
‘My elderly mother had bought this for a surprise and can’t get a penny back!’
Another said: ‘I’ve booked and paid in full for April next year, gutted. Hopefully something can be done.’
A third added: ‘Same company have taken a £1000 from us.’
Solfan1 was incorporated in November 2015 and Ms Reeves was appointed as director in April 2018.
Frederick Reeves was never officially listed as director of the company but did not dispute that he acted in the capacity of a director when accepting his disqualification following Insolvency Service investigations.
The company was in financial difficulties in early 2024, having been served a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs for tax debts of more than £200,000 at the start of February.
Following discussions with a private insolvency practitioner, the couple agreed on 28 March that Solfan1 should be placed into liquidation.
However, from then until the company went into liquidation on 1 May 2024, they continued to take deposits and full payments from new customers.
Analysis by investigators revealed that an estimated 43 customers made payments totalling £43,590 to the company during that period.
