Are the Isla Gladstone’s mansion-building directors squatting in Stanley Park?

The Post has uncovered evidence that the operators of the historic wedding venue had funds to pay back what was owed to Liverpool City Council

Dear readers — Last month, a Post exclusive revealed that the operators of the Isla Gladstone Conservatory, T.I.G.C Ltd, owed a substantial debt of over £350,000 to Liverpool City Council — a shortfall the council were considering writing off as unrecoverable. Since then, T.I.G.C Ltd have disputed both that figure and the write-off to The Echo, but they did not provide a different amount. 

Now, The Post can reveal that not only did T.I.G.C.’s lease of the building — and right of occupancy — expire in 2019, but its two directors, Gemma and Gary McGowan, together made £1.69 million on the sales of two new build properties in the six years between 2015 and 2021. In today’s edition, Charlotte Robson delves into the McGowans’ lucrative financial dealings, made while thousands that could have gone towards vital public services went unpaid.

Editor’s note: Stories like this one take weeks of research and reporting – and they’re only made possible thanks to the support of our paying members. If you’re not yet a subscriber, there’s never been a better time to join us. For just just £7 a month, you’ll directly help us produce the kind of in-depth, well-researched journalism Merseyside deserves, and you’ll also get full access to today’s story as well as all our past and upcoming pieces. 

---

Your Post briefing

In nearby Huyton, a ten-year masterplan is expected to overhaul the town centre. The scheme, put forward by Knowsley Council, will demolish buildings and replace them with hotels, green spaces, offices, and a library. At a meeting next week, councillors are set to approve an initial £3.6 million. The first phase, branded St Michael’s Place, includes 72 new one and two bedroom apartments for affordable rent. Knowsley Council is seeking grant funding from Homes England to plug a £28 million viability gap holding up the first phase. The authority is hoping the succeeding measures will then create 1,700 jobs and bring up to £50 million of extra spending into the local economy.

To mark his 76^th birthday, King Charles has opened a new food hub in Kirkby via video link. The Coronation Food Hub, based on Lees Road, will work to distribute excess food from supermarkets and the catering industry to food banks and community pantries. Mark Blundell, The Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, cut the ribbon on the new building. Earlier this month, we published a story about how, through both the Crown Estate and the Duchy of Lancaster, King Charles profits from vast swathes of Merseyside’s land, businesses, and infrastructure. Read that here. 

Aintree University Hospital “must improve” according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The health watchdog found that emergency patients were at “risk of harm”, and there were not always enough staff to meet patients’ needs. The findings were made after an unannounced inspection by the CQC in March, which maintained the hospital’s overall grade of "requires improvement". Aintree University Hospital is run by Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who said it was "taking action" to address these concerns. 

And the X4 service connecting Liverpool and Runcorn will resume on the 16th December after a hiatus of two years. Metro mayor Steve Rotheram said that the service had closed because it was "not commercially viable", but a short-term subsidy from the public purse has been approved to revive it. The X4, which was withdrawn in April 2022 along with the X1 service between Liverpool and Chester, will halve travel time for commuters to 50 minutes compared to current services. 

---

By Charlotte Robson

Last month, The Post uncovered that the operators of the historic Isla Gladstone Conservatory venue in Stanley Park, a company called T.I.G.C. Ltd, owe Liverpool City Council as much as £150,000 in rent arrears. A council report estimated that the company’s debts were in reality closer to £360,000, but it felt that the money owed was by then unrecoverable. A question subsequently put to The Post by a St John’s Market trader, who, along with other stall owners, found himself turfed out in March following a collective rent dispute, seems especially pertinent: “Is this some kind of special service that they’re giving [to T.I.G.C.]?”

Managing director of T.I.G.C, Gemma McGowan, told The Post at the time that “lease renewal” negotiations with Liverpool City Council had been under way since February 2019. The company had last paid rent in 2018, managing just £15,027.32 of its yearly lease bill. 

In another statement, this time to The Echo, McGowan described her company as a “long-standing tenant of the city and contributor to its cultural heritage”. The confidential settlement deal reached with the council would be paid in instalments, she said, adding that the total amount agreed is less than the 50% debt write-off approved by its cabinet in July. McGowan concluded by saying that she looked forward to “the council’s continued support” as business carries on as normal at the Isla Gladstone. 

More than five and a half years’ worth of discussions over a £25,000 per year contract tells us there has been plenty to talk about. But when we kept digging into the financials of the Isla Gladstone, we found that not only did T.I.G.C.’s lease of the building — and right of occupancy — unavoidably expire in 2019, but its two directors, Gemma and Gary McGowan, together made £1.69 million on the sales of two new build properties alone in the six years between 2015 and 2021.

An illustration by Jake Greenhalgh

Why did T.I.G.C. think it had the right to stay put, never mind rack up such a debt, past its maximum lease period? Has the company effectively been squatting at the Isla Gladstone since August 2019, continuing to host for-profit events and provide off-site hospitality on behalf of Liverpool Football Club? And why on earth would Liverpool City Council write off unpaid debt for a tenant they haven’t managed to get rid of?

Hearth and home

Gemma McGowan, a hospitality entrepreneur (then surnamed Hindley), first took over the Isla circa 2009, by which point she’d had quite the storied career – one that seemingly funded her luxurious lifestyle. 

Chatting to the Echo shortly after being named a Marriott hotel inspector in 2010, McGowan described taking at least one holiday a month. “I have plenty of examples to judge by,” she said of her love of travel and hotel stays. 

In a client profile published by North West law firm Bermans several years later, not long after 2014’s founding of now-dissolved community interest venture Hestia Careers (a hospitality apprenticeship training provider for young people), McGowan talked of how she would “jump on a plane to Portugal” with husband Gary and their family whenever she had the chance. 

McGowan had previously been at the helm of iconic Anfield matchday pub the Sandon since 1996, mere weeks after her eighteenth birthday. In doing so, she “famously became the youngest licensee in the country”, according to her LinkedIn.