The business that ran the all-pink Boujee restaurant and bar in Liverpool owed more than £3m when it collapsed into administration, it has been revealed.
With two other sites in Manchester and Chester, Boujee Restaurant and Bar Ltd was backed by Real Housewives of Cheshire star Lystra Adams. The Liverpool venue, which had been its first, had opened at the end of 2020 at Liverpool ONE but closed in August 2022.
Its Manchester site opened in Bridge Street in May 2021 but closed in October this year shortly after Lystra Adams resigned as a director. Its Chester venue opened in November 2021 in Pepper Street and was acquired by one of the firm's founding directors in a move that has secured the jobs of all 32 members of staff in October.
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Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery has now published a document detailing how the company entered administration, how much it owes to its creditors and whether they will get their money back. Boujee Restaurant and Bar was set up in September 2020 by Stephen Cliff, with Minesh Parekh and Lystra Adams joining as directors two months later.
Its first site in Liverpool was forced to close on December 30, 2020, because of Covid-19 restrictions and could only reopen on May 17, 2021.
Administrators Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery said the company operated at a loss during that time as the "majority of the Covid specific support packages were unavailable to the company due to the infancy of the business".
The administrators added that throughout late 2021 and early 2022, the Liverpool venue was "failing to achieve its expected turnover" and that the company accumulated arrears of rent with the landlord and also fell into arrears with HMRC over VAT and PAYE payments.
The administrators said: "This resulted in significant cash flow difficulties for the company which was compounded further with suppliers increasing prices for food and drink produce which could not wholly be passed on to the customers."
In March 2022, the directors entered negotiations with the landlord of the Liverpool venue over a new lease as the current deal was due to expire in July. However, because of the rent arrears, the administrators said the landlord was not willing to enter into a new agreement.
As a result, the venue closed in July 2022 and all staff were made redundant. Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery added that £12,000 was owed to the employees at the venue when it closed, "which the company was not in a position to discharge".
The administrators said: "The company's financial position continued to deteriorate with turnover significantly reducing across the Chester and Manchester venues. As a consequence, the company was unable to discharge trade creditor payments."
After Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery was formally instructed to assist the company in September, its Manchester venue closed, with all staff made redundant.
Zobra Conference and Events Ltd, whose sole director is Minesh Parekh, acquired the company's Chester site for £75,000 in October.
The Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery document, which has been filed with Companies House, also details how much the company owed to its creditors when it entered administration.
Unsecured creditors were owed over £2.8m but the administrators said it is "currently expected that realisations will be insufficient to allow the distribution to the unsecured creditors".
HMRC was also owed £802,783 but the firm added that it is also currently expected that there will not be enough money for a repayment.
Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery added that while a dividend will be paid to former employees who are owed almost £50,000 collectively, how much they will end up receiving and when it "currently uncertain".
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