Jamie Playford of Leading Corporate Recovery has been appointed as Liquidator of Norwich restaurant, The Library, amid mounting energy and tax bills.
However, a restructuring deal with the directors has resulted in the restaurant continuing to trade and all 15 jobs being preserved.
The restaurant, which opened in 2006, was well-established on the Norwich restaurant scene under the management of restaurateurs Nigel and Jayne Raffles alongside their three other venues in the city.
Financial troubles began in 2012 when an energy company issued a bill to the company for £90,000, which the directors claimed was based on incorrect meter readings. After having the bill adjudicated through arbitration, the directors were successful in reducing the bill to £48,000 and the company agreed a payment plan, however this put pressure on the business cash flow.
Partly due to the downturn in the economy, the directors decided to downsize their business and sold two of their restaurants, St Benedicts Grill and Pinocchios, with a third venue, Pulse, closing when the landlord refused to renew the lease, leaving The Library as the directors’ only remaining venue.
The financial difficulties resulted in the company falling behind with its payments to HM Revenue & Customs for VAT and PAYE. In February 2017 the company attempted to reach a payment plan with HMRC which was rejected and, as a result, in July 2017 the company received a winding up petition from HMRC for a total debt of £177,000. The company’s other largest creditors are the directors, having injected considerable personal funds to support the business.
The directors placed the company into liquidation on 7 September 2017 and at a meeting of creditors on the same date, creditors appointed Leading Corporate Recovery to manage the liquidation.
The business is continuing to trade, preserving all 15 jobs, and the directors are currently working with the trade suppliers of the company and have suggested that payments to them will be honoured.
For any queries regarding the liquidation of the company, please contact Chloe Phillips at chloe.phillips@beta.leading.uk.com
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Leading Corporate Recovery is Norwich’s fastest-growing insolvency, restructuring and strategic advisory practice, providing help to businesses and individuals across East Anglia and London. Jamie Playford is a director and licensed insolvency practitioner, and a member of the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association and a Fellow member the insolvency trade body, R3. Jamie has worked in the insolvency industry in East Anglia since the late 1990s.
© Leading Corporate Recovery, 2017
