Well-known York businessman Ben Fry has been declared bankrupt.
It follows the sale of the company he co-founded, The Potions Cauldron, in a pre-pack administration deal in April.
That saved the company and 72 jobs.
Ben and Phil Pinder founded the business in 2016. It had two wizard-themed brands, retailer The Potions Cauldron, and mini golf courses The Hole In Wand.
The company grew quickly, operating six sites across the UK. The Potions Cauldron also struck deals to supply its iconic drinks to Disney, including in a Marvel-based theme.
Most of the venues were saved in the administration sale, but one venue, in Edinburgh, had to close.
Ben explained how the company got into trouble. “Businesses require funding to grow and every time we opened a new venue it had a build cost of over £350,000.
“With several golf courses and new sites the business debt naturally grew and banks won’t lend without a guarantee from a director.
“It is those guarantees being called in after The Potions Cauldron Ltd went into administration that have caused the situation.
“The bankruptcy process will involve assessing my personal assets and they will then be paid to the creditors, but that process hasn’t started yet.”
The collapse of the Potions Cauldron came amid increasing pressure on businesses, including rising national insurance costs, higher minimum wages and energy bills.
That has taken its toll. Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have shown that the number of business insolvencies in England and Wales increased by 7% in March and administrations were 52% higher than the previous month.
Ben said: “To be honest there has been plenty of prevailing winds, particularly for hospitality businesses, and we were hit by all of those in 2025 including increasing staffing costs.
“There were also unforeseen issues with a venue being flooded and closed for three months and needing to be rebuilt, and a battle with insurers costing over £250,000, as well being victims of a scam over a large order of drinks that cost over £100,000 on top of rising
costs for new builds.
“But ultimately we like many businesses currently facing financial troubles were killed by cash flow as we looked to refinance the debt to make the payments more manageable in line with trading and the demand we had.
“We were trying to find lenders who would support us, or new equity partners at the worst time of year with the outlook for the economy looking pretty poor, and in the end failed.
“Obviously mistakes have been made and I have continually tried to improve the situation over the past two years so we didn’t lose any of the staff and venues, I should have taken action much quicker.”
He said he felt personally responsible over what had happened.
“The new company The Potions Group is making sure that no local suppliers lose out from the administration and 72 jobs have been saved and I have been supporting with that transition.
“This is never how I wanted this particular journey to end and I feel like I have let my family down with the stress and worry of the situation and personally feel a huge sense of failure.”
Ben has other roles in the city, including as York’s Town Crier and as a presenter on YorkMix.
“I stepped back from YorkMix at the end of last year so I could concentrate on trying to make the best of the situation for The Potions Cauldron Ltd, but I hope one day once things settle down I can get back on air as radio will always be my first love.
“I will continue as Town Crier as I don’t really see that as being me, it’s a role and one I feel very lucky to have the chance to do and give something back to the community.”
Being declared bankrupt “will affect positions I can take up over the next 12 months and has financial implications as well,” he said.
“I need to work through the process and then see where I go from there, to be honest it’s all still very raw and I am trying to get my head round it and what it means day to day and deal with each challenge head on.”
He added that the company he founded and grew has a positive future. “The Potions Group and Stuart and the team will continue to work hard to provide brilliant magical fun for everyone who visits and long may that continue.
“And for me over the next 12 months I will still be around ringing my bell for York and the businesses in York, because I know first hand how hard it is right now and that they need all the support they can get.”
