Four Wellington bars insolvent: ACC, IRD, dozens of employees and businesses claiming funds

The Birdcage bar on Dixon Street. Photo / Google Maps

Four Wellington bars have been declared insolvent, with Inland Revenue, Accident Compensation Corporation and dozens of businesses and employees claiming money from the establishments.

Central Wellington bars Birdcage on Dixon St, Allen St’s Love Not Lost, Willis St Press Hall’s Amador and Serious Happiness in Newtown have fallen into the hands of a single liquidator in the past few weeks.

Kāpiti Coast insolvency firm Fervor’s John Scutter was appointed on March 9.

Scutter published the bars’ first liquidation reports on March 16.

All four businesses are insolvent due to “current trading patterns and inability to pay obligations as they fall due”, he said.

Scutter said none of the establishments has any listed assets or liabilities because of a lack of documentation.

The liquidator didn’t state the amounts being claimed by creditors and said no recent financial statements were filed for either business.

Gas Hospitality, trading as Birdcage, had financial statements recorded until March 31, 2021.

Shoreditch Holdings, trading as Amador, had “no annual financial statements prepared” on the date of the report.

Scutter added that both businesses had not recorded recent transactions.

“At the time of liquidation, the recording of transactions in the accounting systems used by the company had fallen behind,” both Gas Holdings and Shoreditch’s reports said.

Both companies have the same director and majority shareholder - Andrew Peter Gray.

Love Not Lost and Riddiford St bar Serious Happiness also had no financial statements prepared at the time of Scutter’s report.

Love Not Lost’s majority shareholder is Serious Happiness.

Love Not Lost and Serious Happiness’ shareholder and director is Benjamin Joshua Irvine.

Scutter said no creditor claims had come through but identified several businesses claiming money from the establishments.

The four bars share some creditors, including Inland Revenue and ACC.

The Press Hall, at the Evening Post's former printing presses in Willis St, will say goodbye to Amador. Picture / Supplied

Gas Hospitality has 23 employees claiming funds with Shoreditch at six employee claims. Serious Happiness and Love Not Lost have 16 employee claims each.

BNZ is claiming money from Birdcage and Amador, with Birdcage’s creditors including SME financiers Flexicommercial and GetCapital. GetCapital is also a creditor of Love Not Lost.

Australian wholesale and marketing conglomerate Metcash, the parent company of Mitre 10 and the Bottle-O, lands on Amador’s creditor list.

Hospitality wholesalers Gilmours and Wellington coffee roasters Caffe L’Affare make three out of four creditors lists while Coca-Cola is claiming money from Birdcage and Love Not Lost.

Local breweries Garage Project, Cassels, Heyday Beer, 8 Wired, Parrotdog, Deep Creek, Morning Cider, Liberty Brewing and Panhead are in line to collect funds from the businesses.

Alcohol suppliers Red and White Cellar, Negociants, Hancocks, Vintners NZ and Federal Merchants make the bars’ creditors list.

Other claimants include power company Genesis, JJ Richards Waste, Eftpos NZ and catering equipment hire company Silver Chef Rentals.

Scutter said the end date for liquidation can’t be determined yet.

This week, the Herald reported the liquidation of Hamilton fast-food chain Fill A Bowl.

Like the Wellington businesses, the fast-food retailer struggled to meet debt obligations, becoming insolvent after sales from a second outlet were lower than expected.

Liquidators said the company could not meet its debts three months after opening.

Inland Revenue is claiming $40,000 and employees are claiming $14,300 from the Hamilton business, while Fill A Bowl’s other creditor claims came in at more than $300,000.