The Department of Economic Development has today announced a delay in the appointment of preferred bidders, Vision Nine, as the Promoter of the TT and Classic TT Races.

The appointment of Vision Nine was approved by Tynwald in April this year with the view to them taking over significant levels of operational, promotional and commercial delivery responsibility for the TT and Classic TT from 2017. Due to the delay, the organisation of the 2017 Events will remain with the Department.

Laurence Skelly MHK, Minister for the Department of Economic Development, commented:

‘The Department has been working closely with Vision Nine over the past few months to finalise the agreement and terms of the appointment, including issues raised by other Government Departments concerning certain operational matters. This has taken longer than envisaged and, as a result, and in order to ensure that plans for the 2017 TT are not adversely affected by the delay, we have taken the decision to defer the start date for the appointment.

‘We are currently working on an agreement to reflect the deferred start date and to incorporate the changes requested by other Departments. We are still looking to work with Vision Nine and hope to conclude the appointment at the earliest opportunity.’

Julian Topham, CEO of Vision Nine, commented:

‘Whilst we are disappointed that the Department has not been able to fully conclude the Promoter Agreement in line with the planned Tender timelines, we also fully recognise the complexity of formulating an agreement in relation to an event that spans a number of Government Departments’ responsibilities.  We are committed to working with the Government to create an operating structure tailored to the needs of the TT and Classic TT.

‘Given these delays it is in the interest of the TT and the TT’s partners that the Department now retains the organisation of the 2017 events and we look forward to taking over as Promoter of the TT and Classic TT for the 2018 editions.’