HMRC and BFI investigate film producer Alan Latham over £16m taxpayer-funded movie projects

Officials and liquidators are pursuing the companies behind 21 films that sought incentives worth almost £16m from a joint HMRC and British Film Institute scheme.

Companies controlled by prolific film producer Alan Latham – whose films have featured stars including Elizabeth Hurley, Kelsey Grammer and Bill Nighy – are under investigation by HMRC amid questions over how taxpayers’ money was used to fund dozens of little-known productions.

Liquidators are examining the collapse of Highfield Grange Production Services, one of Latham’s main holding companies, which included £20.4m in film investments that have now been reduced to zero. Creditors, including HMRC, have been left facing losses after Highfield went into liquidation following a tax dispute.

The tax authority is also seeking to liquidate GSP Studios International, Highfield’s major shareholder, and another entity controlled by Latham.

A Investigation times It found that more than 20 films linked to Latham had tried to get £16 million in creative industry tax credits, part of a government scheme run jointly by HMRC and the British Film Institute (BFI) to boost UK film production.

Titles include Christmas in Paradise, a romantic comedy starring Elizabeth Hurley (pictured) and Kelsey Grammer, filmed in the Caribbean as part of a promotional deal for St Kitts and Nevis, and Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Library, which again features Grammer.

Many of the companies behind these films have not filed their accounts for several years – which is considered a criminal offense – while others face being struck off the corporate register. Films are absent from the list of BFI projects that have received final certification, but some have been granted “provisional certification”, which allows funds to be released before completion.

Questions have also been raised about the accuracy of production budgets used to claim the tax break.

For example, Solis – a 2018 sci-fi film starring The Walking Dead’s Stephen Ogg – was reported in the company’s accounts to have cost £4.7m, and is eligible for almost £1m of temporary tax credits. Its director Carl Strathe has publicly stated that the film’s real budget was closer to £700,000.

Another film, Gatecrash (2020), is listed as having cost £4.5 million, however individuals familiar with the project claim the budget was around £750,000. She received almost £900,000 in tax credits.

Liquidators at Begbie Traynor, who oversee Highfield’s management, said they had conducted “thorough investigations” into why the film investments were written off. In filings this year, they asserted that lawyers were instructed to pursue “related parties” with “significant claims” against two unnamed special purpose vehicles.

They added that “large sums of money have been identified that were paid to other linked companies” and that the transactions are being investigated “because they have the effect of reducing the company’s assets.”

The statement of affairs signed by Latham listed £3.7m owed to GSP Studios International, another of his companies, which is now also facing action from HMRC.

The incident has raised wider questions for HMRC and the British Film Institute, which oversee the ratification and administration of the UK’s £500 million-a-year film tax credit system.

The BFI confirmed that it is working closely with HMRC and the government to “support the integrity of the system,” adding: “We take any concerns about potential misuse very seriously. Tax incentives have helped attract investment, create jobs across the UK, and highlight British creativity around the world.”

An HMRC spokesperson would only say: “We take compliance within creative industry tax credits very seriously.”

Latham, an accountant turned film producer, has held more than 150 directorships and remains associated with more than 60 active companies. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by any actors or crew members involved in the production.

In 2022, Latham told the Mail on Sunday that “incompetence” was to blame for his companies repeatedly failing to submit accounts, after investors complained of losing money on one of his previous films, The Comedian’s Guide to Survival, which made just £75.