Historic bar in receivership

Parnell-based The Swan Brew Bar and adjoining Swan Hotel has been placed into receivership.

Receiver Damien Grant of Waterstone Insolvency said the company failed after it borrowed money which it could not pay back.

“It wasn’t a huge amount,” Grant said in response to questions of how much was involved.

“They borrowed some money from a private lender and were unable to repay it and the private lender put the company into receivership to protect their position.”

Both The Swan Brew Bar and Swan Hotel’s website and Facebook pages have been deactivated but Grant said no staff had been let go following the receivership and the bar and hotel were trading as normal.

“We are running the business in receivership and we expect to have it sold in the next 24 hours,” he said.

Grant said the person in control of the websites and Facebook accounts had taken them down without his permission.

He said staff had been paid whatever they were owed.

A buyer had come forward, Grant said, who was now negotiating over the price.

The original hotel, now refurbished and trading under the name of The Swan Hotel, was constructed in the 1800s. The building is listed as a heritage site and is one of the earliest public timber houses in Auckland.