In the firing line Katie and Lawrence Kenwright of Signature Living
Liverpool hotel, bar and restaurant chain collapses owing nearly £113m (but the owner tried to transfer its assets before the collapse)
The Liverpool Echo has recorded a string of complaints about the investment schemes run by Signature Living companies based in the city ahead of the collapse of the parent company.
With 60 hotels in the group and a numerous bars and restaurants around Merseyside and beyond it has become another victim of Covid 19 regulations that has seen the hospitality industry thumped.
However Signature Living’s CEO Lawrence Kenwright wasn’t without controversy before the collapse. He shifter many of the firm’s assets into a new company just before the crash and was then forced to put them back into the failed group by the administrators as it was against the rules.
Ian Carrotte of ICSM said it was a classic case of trying to restart the firm as a phoenix at the expense of the suppliers who have been left with £113 in unpaid invoices. Hundreds of staff are likely to be lost in one of the industry’s largest collapses during the pandemic.
Lawrence Kenwright’s wife Katie resigned as a director ahead of the collapse but there has been criticism of the couple for their handling of the group’s assets. An attempted sale of The Shankly Hotel last year failed to find a buyer while the group took a £2m loan from Cardiff Council to refurbish a hotel in the city in 2020 and there have been rows with Liverpoool’s council bosses over alleged drug use at one property and investors complaining to the Liverpool Echo about unpaid cash investments.
Runners and Riders
Below is a collated list taken from the Government’s London Gazette of allied businesses who are experiencing problems in the last few weeks.
We have broken them into different sections to make it easier to see and we have included the company number in each case.
HOSPITALITY, TRAVEL, EVENTS AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES
Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation Deemed in Consent Meetings
Boutique Restaurant Group Limited 10874825
Downtown Food And Drink Limited 11496874
The Coliseum (London) Limited 11160730
Liquidators Appointed
A Nineteen Company Limited 11448516
Bar Opus Limited 08460427
Bay of Bengal Limited 11057624
Holdsworth Designs Limited 04850315
Horns Mill Limited 11855661
Inception Global Limited 08154233
Lodge Events Limited 11996880
Lounge India Lowestoft Limited 11352853
Manor House Spa Limited 09691932
Sea View Hotel Swansea Limited 11467614
Opus Restaurant Limited 05244581
Scorpion Event Production Limited 03879627
Shakes & Steaks Company Limited 11963742
Shepherd Cox Hotels (Manchester North) Limited 10604330
Studio Bea Limited 11518330
The Rose & crown (Hoylandswaine) Limited 11438999
Members Voluntary Liquidations
A-I-R Hotels Limited 01148159
Hellene Travel Limited 03644980
Studytrips Limited 02611466
Studytrips Travel Limited 03336697
Tourico Holidays UK Limited 07194495
UEI Restaurants Limited 07325381
FOOD AND DRINK MAKERS
Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation Deemed in Consent Meetings
Jake's Vegan Steaks Limited 10776376
Masterchef Luton Limited 08847894
Maya Foods Limited 11310486
VF Foods (UK) Limited 09202578
Wingtip Brewing Company Limited 09427769
Liquidators Appointed
Goa Spice (Mexborough) Limited 11849430
China Village 118 Limited 11942276
Mrs Canopy Limited 12226365
The Field Kitchen (UK) Limited 07457911
The Tasted of China (Yorkshire) Limited 09947852
Wingtip Brewing Company Limited 09427769
Yokkmokk Limited 11248055
Members Voluntary Liquidations
John W F Hughes & Co Limited 00826647
R Jackson (Potatoes) Limited 00141592
Selby Salads Limited 04204258
Winding up orders
The Meat Company (Sussex) Limited 11974869
ICSM CREDIT
For information on ICSM visit www.icsmcredit.com or call 0844 854 1850.
ICSM, The Exchange, Express Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 4RR. Tel: 0844 854 1850. www.icsmcredit.com. Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com