Creditors set to miss out after pub company administration
A Derby-based pub company owed almost £3m to creditors when it called in administrators in October.
Of this amount, over £1.1 were owed to unsecured creditors of the Real Brewing Company who are unlikely to see the cash owed to them, according to documents seen by TheBusinessDesk.com.
Mazars were appointed to look after the day-to-day running of the company after the Real Brewing Company reported “extremely challenging trading”, ongoing recruitment challenges, soaring interest rates, supplier cost increases and an increasingly aggressive effort from HMRC to recoup arrears.
The move, in which 78 people lost their jobs, meant that the company’s two freehold venues The Greyhound on Friar Gate, and Derby Brewing Tap House on Derwent Street were put up for sale through Savills.
Three of the group’s other sites – The Clubhouse in Derby, The Pig in Lichfield and The Pointing Dogs in Matlock have closed.
Subsequently, 19 jobs were saved when Notsa in Ashton on Trent and the Hole in the Wall in Mickleover – two leasehold sits – were bought by managing director Paul Harris through a new company called Ale Craft Pubs (ACP).
The Real Brewing Company was owned by the Derby Brewing Company, which was set up by Trevor Harris in 2004. The company’s last available accounts, for the year to September 30, showed a loss of £116,000. Mazars said this loss on the balance sheet for this year was up to £703,000.
