Dublin's Asian restaurant chain Cafe Mao forced into receivership

6th July 2010, 9:21am

Cafe Mao, the Asian restaurant chain, has become the latest casualty of the Irish recession, with its three Dublin branches forced into receivership over bank debts.

Kenneth Fennell, of the Dublin-based corporate restructuring specialists Kavanagh Fennell, has been appointed receiver by Allied Irish Banks. He confirmed that the business is continuing to trade under its existing management while he seeks a buyer or new investor.

Cafe Mao opened its first restaurant in Dublin's Chatham Street almost 13 years ago, later adding branches in the city suburb of Dundrum and Dun Laoghaire. But, as elsewhere in the Irish economy, the restaurant sector has been hard hit by the collapse of the Republic's so-called Celtic Tiger boom, with unemployment now at 13% and consumer spending in free fall.

Graham Campbell, who launched the Dublin chain, recently described how he had "cut prices to the bone", including the offer of a €12.95 lunch deal, in an effort to boost trade. The most recent accounts available show the company had bank borrowings of close to €2m at the end of 2008, just before the recession struck.

Meanwhile, the Restaurants' Association of Ireland (RAI) describes trading conditions being experieced by its 2,500 members as "extremely tough". According to chief executive Adrian Cummins, "casualties are occurring on an almost daily basis", with some businesses closing and others going into examinership or receivership.

The RAI executive recently met in special session to decide if it should adopt similar protest tactics to those of the Irish Hotels' Federation, which is threatening to withhold 30% of a €90m rates bill because members claim they cannot afford to pay it. The hotels are seeking a revision of the nine-year-old valuation system, which they say takes no account of current economic circumstances, and complain that their appeals have been ignored.

Restaurants are similarly affected, Mr Cummins points out, with members having to foot an annual rates bill of €35m. But instead of strike action, the executive opted for dialogue and is now seeking a meeting with Environment Minister John Gormley to press for a 10% reduction in rates pending revision of the valuation system.

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Patrick Quinn

05 February 2012 at 1:48am

Delighted for him. This pretentious idiot should not even be allowed to have a bank account!

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