Old Church very much in business

Moira Irving.

The Old Church Restaurant in Meeanee is having a successful wedding season despite a bumpy change in management.

Moira Irving is soothing apprehensive brides at popular wedding venue The Old Church Restaurant. Photo / Paul Taylor

Until October the business was operated by Garry Walker and Moira Irving, who took over from the property owner's family trust in 2013.

Mr Walker said there were a good number of weddings booked for the 2013/2014 season but operating costs were high.

"We inherited the weddings from the previous operator and those weddings proved to be unprofitable. We did not make any money at all," he said.

During the winter he discussed with Ms Irving the possibility of her taking over the business after a hopefully-profitable 2015/2016 wedding season.

"We had about 45 or 50 weddings booked," he said.

"Some contract prices had been adjusted. We had managed to bump the per-head price up a few dollars which obviously increases the gross revenue and gross margin."

Mr Walker, a chartered accountant, said he decided the season might not be profitable and ceased trading in October with three months' rent unpaid.

Lawyers acting for the property wrote to him saying the property owner accepted his lease cancellation but to secure goods needed for the business to continue he was warned to stay off the property and the locks changed.

Ms Irving, a Taranaki Regional councillor, signed a new lease and provided 50 wedding celebrations despite not receiving the deposits of about $2000 each. They were paid to Mr Walker's company TOC Ltd which he put into liquidation.

Ms Irving said this month's published liquidation notice was misleading because many people read the headline trading as The Old Church Restaurant and Villa.

"I've had 15 phone calls this morning already from concerned bridesmaids, thinking the Old Church has gone into liquidation," she said.

Lawyer Nathan Gray said the owner of the property owned the copyright to the trading name "The Old Church Restaurant and Bar" and was concerned that the liquidation notice would be confusing to readers.

"Our client will be addressing that directly with the liquidator of TOC Ltd," he said.

The liquidator's first report estimated a deficit of $339,230.

Ms Irving and Mr Walker's personal and business relationships have broken down. On Monday in the High Court in Napier Ms Irving successfully had a pre-liquidation statutory demand from Mr Walker's company to hers set aside.

The Old Church is a decommissioned heritage-rated former Catholic Church renovated by former Florida businesswoman Karen Hill.

With her at the helm, the restaurant picked up a Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Award in its first year in 2008.

The Old Church hosted the 2015 F.A.W.C! event The Locavore's Lunch.