The boss of Vision Nine says he will not be pursuing legal action after the collapse of a deal that would have seen the company take a leading role in the Isle of Man TT races.

As we reported last week, under the proposal, which was approved by Tynwald in April 2016, Vision Nine was to have taken on more than £2m of DED’s annual costs to run the TT and Festival of Motorcycling and provide £2.5m of investment in return for a 10-year contract and a 80/20 share of the resulting net income.

But that deal was dropped in November last year.

Then it was examined by a Tynwald scrutiny committee, which concluded that the deal would have reduced financial risk to the Department of Economic Development but would have increased financial and other risks to government as a whole.

Vision Nine boss Julian Topham told iomtoday.co.im that he was invited to give evidence but chose not to do so.

He said the saga has cost his company more than £200,000 but that Vision Nine would not now be pursuing legal action.

He said: ’The report is an accurate reflection of what went on but what it doesn’t draw out is that the government chose to hide behind the Attorney General.’

Mr Topham said it was now clear the project was flawed from the outset. He rejected the idea that Vision Nine could have just walked away from the project, given the £3m to £4m investment it would have made.

And he insisted there was no confusion as to the company’s role in the project. ’We were to be the event promoter. Vision Nine was never going to be the race organiser.’

He added: ’The TT is so badly organised. It should not be costing the taxpayers a penny.’

Now critics of the economic policy review committee inquiry have suggested that the damning report is itself flawed, and the collapse of the plan to bring in Vision Nine as private promoter for the TT was the result of a ’government ambush’.

The scrutiny committee report, which will be presented to this month’s Tynwald sitting, states: ’We conclude that responsibility for the failure of the project lies primarily with the Minister for Economic Development, Mr Skelly, and with the department’s former chief executive officer, Chris Corlett.’

In mitigation the committee accepts that both they and the Council of Ministers deserved some credit for abandoning the project when they did, in November 2016.

But it adds: ’The invidious situation in which CoMin found itself at that time should never have been allowed to arise.’

The decision to discontinue the process to find a private promoter partner for the TT was ’justified’, says the report, adding: ’The mistakes which led to the need for this embarrassing climb-down had been made much earlier.’

But as a forum for identifying and resolving cross-governmental issues, CoMin was a ’complete failure’, states the report.

There was also confusion about what Vision Nine’s role would be, with the tender document using the phrase ’manage, organise and promote’ when the would-be private partner itself believed the ACU would still run the event.

Criticising the way the DED would have given away control of the TT and Classic TT to the very significant extent contemplated by the contract with Vision Nine, the committee states: ’The concept of outsourcing responsibility for these events is arguably tantamount to outsourcing the governance of the Isle of Man for four weeks of the year.’

The DED ’seriously underestimated’ the impact its proposals would have on other departments - and the proposal appeared to ’hit a brick wall’ when the draft contract with Vision Nine was circulated to other departments.

The DED underestimated the financial risks of contracting with Vision Nine which ’lacked financial substance and could simply have walked away if things had not worked out,’ states the report.

It said the DED relied heavily on The Sports Consultancy not only for commercial advice but also for project management support and legal advice. This was a mistake as the department cut itself off from the Attorney General’s Chambers which was not asked for, and did not volunteer, an opinion as to whether this arrangement was a good idea.

In its response, The Sports Consultancy boasts about its strong record in developing sports events.

They include the Rugby World Cup, the IAAF World Championship, the America’s Cup, the Women’s Tennis Association Finals, the Tour of Britain 388, The Ryder Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race, the Basketball World Cup, the World Equestrian Games and European Championships and FIA Formula E.

The committee found that The Sports Consultancy’s pre-existing relationship with Vision Nine did not invalidate the procurement process but it was ’hardly surprising that bidders previously unknown to The Sports Consultancy felt disadvantaged.’

In his response, then Department of Economic Development chief executive Chris Corlett said he was concerned that the committee was entirely constituted by members of the three departments (DHA, DHSC and DoI) absolved from criticism. ’This creates a clear and apparent perception of bias,’ he said.

Trevor Hussey, former head of motorsport at the DED, described the report as ’seriously flawed and one-sided, seeking to blame everything on the DED and its Minister’.

’This is both wrong and unjust,’ he said.

And The Sports Consultancy said it was disappointed it had not been invited to give evidence - and questioned whether the report was balanced given that others, too, had been omitted, including head of the ACU, Gary Thompson.

It claimed the project had been victim to a ’government ambush’, sprung by other departments when they realised they would not getting anything themselves from the deal.

’Innovations that could have been expedited through partnership, were constricted to death by conjecture, scenario-mongering and outright obstructionism,’ The Sports Consultancy said.

Currently the races are operated by DED at a net cost of over £2m.

But a full analysis of the costs of the TT is still not available, despite a request made by CoMin in February 2014. The committee recommends that the economic affairs division should complete a detailed economic impact assessment of the TT and Festival of Motorcycling.

In a statement, the DED said it would ’now consider in detail these conclusions and recommendations’ and will provide a full response as part of government’s broader response to the report for January’s Tynwald. Mr Skelly said he could not comment until then.

Vision Nine was meant to grow the TT.

When it was appointed it had targets to see spectator numbers for the TT and Classic TT grow significantly by 2026 while generating double the economic benefit for the Isle of Man and a DED saving of £23 million.

That was all part of the government’s desire to expand the economy - the role that the Department of Economic Development is meant to fulfil.

The DED saw continued growth of the TT as a golden opportunity for the Manx economy.

The trouble is that if its policy succeeded, it would mean more work for other departments.

Clearly, the Department of Home Affairs (extra policing), the Department of Health and Social Care (pressure on the hospital) and the Department of Infrastructure (more work on the roads) were far from happy with the prospect of a greater workload.

The lack of a joined-up approach meant that different parts of government had opposing objectives.

That silo approach has been criticised in the past and is perhaps best illustrated by this affair.

At the time of Vision Nine’s appointment in March 2016, the Minister for Economic Development, Laurence Skelly MHK, said: ’Vision Nine . . . have industry-leading skills in developing events and will have third party investment to fund essential innovations. Their appointment would also remove significant cost for the Isle of Man Treasury and taxpayer, with the local economy benefiting from increased visitor spend and footfall.

’I also believe their appointment will further drive growth in the Festival of Motorcycling and MGP with the continued support of the Manx Motorcycle Club.’

David Cretney MLC, the department’s then political member with responsibility for motorsport commented: ’This decision is essential for the continued growth and evolution of the TT races.

’The appointment of a promoter partner will give the TT the investment and innovation needed for it to thrive and grow for the next generation. I will be working closely with Vision Nine and their partners to make sure we retain our core TT audience as well as increase visitors to the island via a new, global fan base.’

When Vision Nine was made preferred bidder, Gary Thompson, clerk of the course for the TT races said: ’While there may be some changes with regards to the promotional aspects of the TT, the race organisation, the delivery of the practice and race schedules and the overall safety and marshalling of the event will not be compromised and from a race organiser’s point of view it will be "business as usual".’

Vision Nine was selected after a tender process that began in November 2015, to identify an independent partner to take a significant level of operational, promotional and commercial delivery responsibility for the TT and Classic TT races.

The proposed contract was for 10 years with an option of a further five-year extension.