No, replace "drew" with "spent" - my mistake! Based on your advice I'm going to arrange a meeting with them next week to explain what's happened and show them what I've done. Assuming we can eventually find an amicable way through it then great. If they come back to me with something else then I'll re-post on this thread. Thanks again for your time & help, it's very much appreciated. Kelly.

Indeed, I have some thinking to do. Another question. Would I be able to include the funds I drew for my living expenses and outgoings within "expenses"?

Hi Steampowered. First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. That's really helped! In answer to your question regarding my contract, the following wording applies: 1 - Kelly will provide 30 attendees per event with a minimum guarantee of 25 attendees per event. Should this not be achieved, then [CLIENT] will be entitled to a pro-rata credit or refund, less expenses, per missing attendee. It is, however, not specified as to how this is to be calculated. On reflection I am hoping that I can simply subtract all my operational costs and expenditures from the initial £23500, divide the remainder by 50 (guaranteed attendees) then multiply it by the missing number and make that as an offer of settlement to the client. Then I can see if I can afford it or not. What do you think? Thanks again! Kelly.

Hi all and thank in advance to anyone providing advice that might help me. Do forgive me if this isn’t quite in the right forum, I’m new here! It seemed that “legal” and “creditor” might be appropriate as it will certainly involve one. My scenario: Having worked as a conference producer for 8 years I decided to go self-employed back in November and run events myself for private clients. It took me a while, but I gained one! The brief was to create and run 2 networking events for them in London and Brussels in early May. I agreed to having it worded in the contract that I am responsible for securing 30 attendees for each event as I thought it would be a piece of cake and, sadly for me, it’s not gone well. It’s worded that I guarantee a minimum of 25 and they’d be entitled to a pro-rata refund if I fell short. I’ve not even 10 for each. The problem: They paid me in full prior to commencement back in January and the money, £23500, has been virtually all spent. I’ve paid out for venue hire, AV, caterers, travel, etc; plus being self-employed I’ve needed to draw on it to pay my outgoings each month. My client is a well-known corporate with a well-staffed legal department and I know they will, perhaps rightly, come down hard on me when I report back to them to say the campaigns have failed and that it’s game over. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to wriggle out of this. I’ve been paid in good faith and, whilst I think the client is partly to blame, the onus was on me to deliver and I have failed. When we last met in March, my client said that if I do not deliver they will seek recompense and/or legal action. My question: I’m very worried as to how this will play out. It’s without question they will ask for their outlay back from me and maybe also compensation for the money they have paid to fly people out to the events themselves. Put simply, I don’t have it. Personally, I have no assets or savings that I can tap in to. However, I got married last summer and my husband owns the house we live in and does have savings. I want to face this alone and if I need to pay them back over time then I would gladly do so. My concern is that if it went to court then his situation would be taken in to consideration and he would be forced to bail me out. Can anyone please help me with some advice? I’ve tried so hard to make this all work and now not only do I face the collapse of my venture but quite frankly fear the potential knock-on effects this could have at home. I’ve been stupid and really don’t know what to do. Thanks for reading & in advance for any guidance, Kelly.