SPQR is in liquidation and closed to patrons. Photo / Ella Wilks
SPQR is in liquidation and closed to patrons. Photo / Ella Wilks
The company that owns SPQR withdrew nearly $1.4 million from the business and liquidators say it was also owed $1.2m from related firms at the time of its failure.
The well-known Auckland eatery went into liquidation last week. The first liquidator’s report revealed it owes more than $2million to Inland Revenue and other creditors.
But the likelihood of realising the assets to pay that money back appears slim.
Liquidators Christopher McCullagh and Stephen Lawrence of PKF Corporate Recovery & Insolvency list three assets available to preferential creditors - inventory, loans to related parties and the overdrawn account.
Part of the liquidators’ job is to realise the assets in order to pay the preferential creditors - those creditors include staff owed wages and holiday pay and the tax department.
The book value of its inventory was withheld in the report and the estimate of how much could be realised from selling this inventory was unknown.
The liquidator estimated it would get nothing back from the $1.2m loan to related parties.
The related parties were companies removed from the Company Register over 10 years ago, the report noted. Lawrence didn’t comment when asked the identity of the companies.
A related company is one which shares a common director or owner.
It was also unknown how much could be clawed back from the $1.38m overdrawn on the shareholder’s current account. An overdrawn current account is where the shareholders remove more from the account than they have put in.
The Companies Register shows the sole shareholder is CCR Trustee Limited, which SPQR restaurateur Chris Rupe is the director of and holds 100% of the shares.
The Herald has contacted Rupe for comment.
According to the liquidator’s report, the IRD had served a statutory demand on SPQR for tax arrears, but it was unable to pay the debt or negotiate a repayment arrangement.
Sally Ridge and daughter Jaime being filmed at SPQR in 2012. Photo / Doug Sherring
The company owes $1,484,423 in payroll taxes and GST to Inland Revenue and $144,664 in wages and holiday pay to staff.
Banks owed money
SPQR also owes the ANZ bank $211,054 and small business lender Prospa $52,950.
ANZ’s loan is secured by a first-ranking general security agreement over fixed assets and trademarks while Prospa’s has a second-ranking loan secured over those assets, which means ANZ would be paid back first.
An estimate of the realisable value of the fixed assets and trademarks was withheld as it may be prejudicial to the sale price of those assets.
Chris Rupe, SPQR restaurateur, in Ponsonby in 2020. At the time he spoke of how Covid-19 lockdowns impacted the restaurant industry. Photo / Dean Purcell
Unsecured creditors are owed just over $616,000.
These include Auckland Council, ACC, Genesis Energy, Spark, Windcave and Asahi.
Creditors have until September 11 to make a claim.
The liquidators said they intend to sell SPQR’s assets. This includes kitchen equipment and dining furniture, and a small amount of food and beverage stock.
In a statement last week after news of the liquidation broke, Rupe said he was “really sorry for the current situation”.
“Thanks so much for your understanding, Aucklanders. I know you loyally share the love I’ve had for SPQR for the past 27 years. In the meantime, please spread your patronage around other locally-owned hospo businesses and show your support for the challenging but highly rewarding job they do.”
