“Oh my God, what is going on? This is a total flop,” Brad Richardson thought to himself at his £8,000 party
A 60th birthday party held at Liverpool’s Royal Liver Building was “so bad” it ended up in court. Brad Richardson, 46, spent almost £8,000 on a party for friend Christina Hughes. But he ended up taking hosts Liver Suite to court after the “unacceptable” party.
Brad, from Walton, said he was “sold a dream” which started to crumble within minutes when he found out the bar had no draught lager. He has now been awarded a refund by default after operators Venue RLB Ltd failed to show at court.
The firm said it was unaware of the hearing and disputes a number of allegations made by Brad. The firm says it has submitted an application to have the case heard again.
The ECHO understands Venue RLB Ltd’s claim was struck out in February but Brad says he is yet to receive the £8,355.80 he was awarded.
Brad told the ECHO: “We were told this was a 5-star venue. They [Liver Suite] told us: “It’s the Liver Building; you’re paying for this iconic building.”
In a meeting ahead of the party, Brad said he told the venue: “You know what Liverpool people are like; they’re big drinkers. Please do not run out of alcohol.
“But when I arrived that evening, there was no draught lager. They claimed there was an issue with the supplier that morning. They had known about this party for six or seven months, so trying to order alcohol on the same day was simply not organised.
“It was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. During the champagne reception, the staff just stood there, not passing glasses or pouring it out, so guests had to help themselves.
“People were coming up to me saying there was no toilet roll or soap in the toilets. At 9pm, we were all meant to have a cocktail named after Christina, but they told us they didn’t have the ingredients to make it.
“I thought: ‘Oh my God, what is going on? This is a total flop.’ Then dinner came out and there was no cutlery, none whatsoever.
“The only thing that went well was the DJ and that band that we organised.”
In September 2025, Brad launched a claim against the business behind Liver Suite for a full refund of £7,900.80 plus court costs. Venue RLB Ltd failed to show at court and a default judgement was passed down in favour of the claimant.
The firm said it did not receive the papers informing it of the hearing. In November, Venue RLB Ltd applied to the court to set aside the judgment. The grounds for this application were that they “did not receive the claim form and was not able to defend the proceedings”.
Another hearing was listed for February 16. Court documents show that Venue RLB Ltd failed to attend. Venue RLB’s application was struck out.
A spokesperson for the Royal Liver Suite said: “As this matter is still subject to ongoing court proceedings following the submission of an N244 application, we do not believe it is appropriate to comment in detail at this stage.
“We dispute a number of the allegations being made. We submitted our application because we were unaware of the relevant hearing, having not received the correspondence, and therefore did not have the opportunity to respond or attend. The judgment was entered in those circumstances, and the matter is now continuing through the court process.
“Given the live proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further until that process concludes.”
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