Catalyst Global, the largest teambuilding network in the world has said it is “surprised” at the liquidation of one of the agencies in its partner network and would “seize the opportunity for change” the new situation presents in the UK.
“We are surprised by the news of the Bluehat Group’s liquidation especially considering that sales of Catalyst Global teambuilding products have been very strong in the UK over the past five years. The Catalyst Global network now has over 40 partners worldwide. During their time with us, Bluehat were consistently one of the top five performers in the network”, said Mark Davenport (pictured), head of business development at Catalyst Global.
Describing the news of the Bluehat liquidation earlier this month as “disappointing”, Davenport said: “We developed some great relationships over the years with the staff on the ground at Bluehat Group who were a skilled and knowledgeable team. This liquidation at the hands of mismanagement is a great loss to the industry.”
Bluehat Group has been the exclusive distributor of Catalyst Global teambuilding products in the UK since 2011.
The agency had not responded to requests for comment on its liquidation and Catalyst has pledged that no former Bluehat directors would be offered new Catalyst licences for distributing products in the UK in future.
“Back in 2011, with a great reputation in the market with an established client base, as well as, a solid team, Bluehat Group were considered a positive choice,” Davenport continued. “We are led to believe that a series of poor business decision to diversify into events and other markets, distracted Bluehat Group from their core business of teambuilding in the UK, leading to their slow demise over the past few years.”
Following the news of the liquidation, Catalyst Global says it immediately terminated their exclusive UK licence with the Bluehat Group.
“We at Catalyst Global, have now re-defined the UK territory and will be announcing our new partner in Scotland this coming week,” Davenport added.
He said Catalyst Global was still in discussions with a number of well established companies vying for the rights to sell and distribute their products in England.
Davenport concluded that it would soon be business as usual for long standing customers.
