Yorkshire gin drinkers have been left high and dry after a company which organises craft gin festivals around the UK has gone into administration.

Gin Festival Limited, which was trading as GinFestival.com, had planned 20 gin festivals for the coming months including at venues in Wakefield and Sheffield but these have now had to be cancelled.

Last month insolvency practitioners from Begbies Traynor were appointed as administrators to the Keighley-based business last month with the aim of finding a buyer, no offers have been forthcoming and a closure administration will take immediate effect. Julian Pitts and Nick Reed have been appointed as joint administrators.

As a result, all 27 members of staff employed by the business will be made redundant and the entire programme of 20 gin festivals planned for the coming months has been cancelled.

The company will not be in a position to reimburse ticketholders for anyone who bought tickets for the forthcoming GinFestival.com events scheduled to take place across the country between now and November.

GinFestival.com, which was established in 2013, encountered financial difficulties after it invested heavily in expanding its online presence.

The business attempted to bring online ticket sales for its events in house and also set up an e‐commerce operation selling craft gins direct to customers, both of which increased the financial burden on the company.

Mr Pitts, of Begbies Traynor, said: “It’s a huge shame that GinFestival.com has been placed in administration.

“The loss of jobs is always extremely disappointing and in this case approximately 20,000 tickets have also been sold for forthcoming events which will not be reimbursed as part of the administration process.

“Anyone who has purchased tickets for any of the events organised by GinFestival.com would be best advised to check with their credit or debit card provider as to whether they may be covered for the loss under the Chargeback system.

“Our aim was, of course, to find a purchaser for the business as a going concern in order to safeguard the jobs, but unfortunately, despite our efforts, this did not prove possible.

“We are now in the process of realising what assets we can in order to achieve the best possible returns for creditors.”

Directors of Gin Festival Limited, Marie and James (Jym) Harris, said at the time of the decision: “After five years of hard work and passion, this was not a decision we have taken lightly and personally this will mean we lose our home and everything we have worked hard to build.”