CREDIT CRUNCH

The last of Britain? Gemma Garrett, Miss Great Britain 2007

Credit crunch claims its latest victim... the Miss Great Britain contest
11-Jan-2009
Daily Mail

Britain's oldest beauty pageant has become the latest victim of the credit crunch. Miss Great Britain, first staged 64 years ago, was due to be held next month at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. But organiser Robert de Keyser has called it off, citing the global economic downturn after failing to attract enough wealthy patrons willing to buy table space at the event. ashion tycoon Mr de Keyser, 58, insisted last night that he would rearrange the contest later in the year. But a source claimed it was unlikely that Miss Great Britain would be staged at all in 2009. According to records at Companies House, the company behind the competition - in which Mr de Keyser's 24-year-old girlfriend Ashly Rae is a director - made a loss of £53,000 in 2006 and £62,000 in 2007. Read more here.