LAST week, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) seemingly put an end to a decade of indecision over the fate of Reading Gaol, the disused prison neighbouring Forbury Gardens.
In the ten years since its closure in 2013, the site has been the subject of fierce debate about how the buildings should be used, with the site confirmed to be in the process of being sold to an unknown bidder in September last year.
As first broken by Reading Today, the MoJ confirmed that the site had been sold to the Ziran Education Foundation (ZEF) on Thursday, January 11.
The confirmation followed rumours of involvement by Chinese-born businessman Channing Bi, who is listed as the director of the foundation by Companies House.
The Nippon Foundation described Mr Bi as having had “several successful business ventures in the United States and United Kingdom,” with the latter as the “base” for his business operations.
Companies House lists Mr Bi as residing in Ireland, however, and registered as a citizen of Vanuatu, going by Chang Bi in much of the relevant documentation.
The European Council lists Vanuatu as among the 16 countries which do not cooperate with the EU on tax jurisdiction, with the country considered a ‘tax haven’.
This is largely because it does not instate inheritance, income, capital gains, or property taxes, and has a VAT rate of 12.5%.
Bi has been director of the Ziran Education Foundation since 2018 but it has been filing accounts as a dormant company since late 2020.
Despite this, it is still listed as active, though it registers its capital reserves as nil as of December 2022, and has not filed any further accounts since.
It is owned by Founders Base Development, of which Mr Bi is also listed as the director.
He is among the directors of five other companies as listed with Companies House–many of which are property developers–including Golden Door Financials.
This company was taken to trial after accusations of holding housing securities “ransom” over a company it had lent money to.
While the following trial in May 2021 settled the issue and cleared Golden Door of holding securities unduly, they were ordered by courts to release the securities.
The ruling also outlined that there was “a failing on the part of Golden Door” to provide a number of relevant statements, including setting out lending and repayment figures to its debtors.
This included a breach by the company “of Clause 10.3 of the Loan Agreement in that they did not provide pre-executed deeds,” as well as failure to provide regular statements of account, leading plaintiffs to recover damages for additional interest they were charged.
During the trial, Mr Bi did not give any evidence, but instead spoke through his son, who claims to have no affiliation with any of the relevant companies and acts merely “as a translator.”
Following the trial, Mr Bi was subject to an order “restraining him from threatening the plaintiffs,” though the judge conceded that the situation “giving rise to that request [for restraint] has now passed.”
As part of the sale of Reading Gaol, the Ministry of Justice announced that the ZEF was proposing to build an educational centre, a museum, and an exhibition space.
However Reading Borough Council confirmed that as of Tuesday, it had received no contact from the Foundation.
In fact, the council was informed of the sale just moments before the announcement was made public.
The letter they received from the MoJ subsequently contained “very little detail on any proposed scheme,” and it will only be able to exercise any control through its approval or denial of planning application.
The Ministry of Justice did not provide any comment on what due diligence was carried out ahead of the sale.
While the sale has given a name to the site’s new owners, no assurances have been made as to the plans set out for it and its use as a community asset for cultural or educational purposes is no more certain.
Council Leader Jason Brock said that the move had been “soft-launched” over a number of months and confirmed that the council received a note “hurried out… just seconds before a media statement.”
He explained that while there were reasons to be optimistic “on the face of it… there are still substantial planning hurdles to overcome.”
He added that the council “remain[s] ambitious for the site” and archaeological assessments and the heritage of the site and the surrounding area “would be needed to inform any future development.”
Following the sale, Reading East MP Matt Rodda said: “I am interested in the proposals from the new owner of Reading Gaol and I would like to meet them to discuss their plans for the historic building.
“I am cautiously optimistic about the future of the gaol and I would also encourage the new owner to meet Reading Borough Council to discuss their plans as the council is the local planning authority.”
Toby Davies, director at RABBLE Theatre and a member of the Save Reading Gaol Campaign, said: “The early noises feel mildly encouraging because they have put forward words like ‘culture’ and ‘education’,” but added that campaigners would continue to advocate for the use of the site for community arts projects.
The Ziran Education Foundation has been contacted for comment.
