Months of poor trading beat Mad Butcher store

Another Mad Butcher franchisee has gone into liquidation, the eighth in the past two years.

The owners of the Mad Butcher store in Tauranga appointed BDO as liquidator of their company on Monday.

Several months of poor trading and the opening of two supermarkets in Tau- ranga had led to the decision, BDO said.

Liquidators said the store would close this evening, unless an urgent buyer could be found.

Tim Cook, the chairman of the discount butcher chain’s owner Veritas Investments, said it was too early to comment on the liquidation. ‘‘We are looking at the various options.’’

There were 32 other Mad Butcher stores across the country.

The Tauranga store’s failure follows the liquidation of a Mad Butcher store in Silverdale, north Auckland, last month, which owed more than $200,000.

In July, the original Mad Butcher store in Mangere, Auckland, failed and liquidator Peter Jollands criticised the business model as being in favour of the franchisor. Veritas responded strongly, however, and said Jollands had misunderstood the business model.

The company reported a $4.6 million loss for the year to June 30, and last month said its bank had extended its support. It said revenue for the group – which included gourmet supermarket brand Nosh and the Better Bar Company – was likely to fall this year from $56.5m to between $50m and $55m.

Veritas expected to make a profit between $3m and $3.6m this year, however.