Chef rues dealings with collapsed trucking firm
Former elite Christchurch chef Jean Michel Poulot is looking at more hard work in the kitchen after he lost about $500,000 in dealings with his brotherin-law’s companies.
The 60-year-old, whose last stint in Canterbury was with high-end restaurant Saggio di Vino, last year ploughed about $350,000 into his brother-in-law Leonard Bourton’s trucking and livestock business based in North Canterbury.
Bourton’s five trucking companies (Farmer’s First) went into receivership on March 1 after the companies failed to meet demands from their main funder, NZ Trade Finance.
Poulot said in addition to the $350,000 he put into trucking companies, he spent $150,000 on preparations for a joint venture with Bourton, 49, whom he described as a “charming and well experienced operator”.
On Bourton’s recommendation, Poulot borrowed the $500,000 from NZ Trade Finance, a company directed by Te Awamutu accountant Alastair Flett and Pukekohe financier Craig Urquhart.
The renowned chef, who has been working since he was 12 years old, is married to Bourton’s sister Suzy and is now based in Taupō. He still works parttime as a chef, mainly catering for private clients.
He also has a training business where he teaches skills such as food safety, forklift driving, and building. Poulot said his money difficulties left him in a desperate situation, which meant he had “to survive any way I can”. If that required him doing more chef work to pay the bills, he would do it.
Poulot said the investment in Bourton’s business had made sense because it allowed him to add training in transport, logistics and manufacturing to his teaching concern. Bourton had told him he was building a large family business in a thriving industry, Poulot said. Bourton had received $350,000 (in instalments) and was supposed to transfer a 45% shareholding in Farmer’s First to him. After receiving the money, Bourton pulled out of the share deal, Poulot claimed.
On the basis of his partnership with Bourton, he had committed to the rental of a large Taupō warehouse, which Bourton was going to part use as his North Island trucking base, Poulot said. Fortunately he had found another tenant to take over the lease.
Poulot said he started the process to recover the alleged debts last year.
In response to Poulot’s allegations, Bourton told The Press he had applied to the High Court in Rotorua to have Poulot’s demands set aside and could not say too much pending the court case in April. However, Poulet, he claimed, was supposed to provide $1.1 million funding in exchange for the shares so therefore owed him money. He had offered Poulot some trucks to satisfy the debt but that deal had fallen through.
Poulot trained in France and worked in restaurants in Switzerland and then Ireland, where he gained recognition as one of Ireland's top five chefs. As head chef at Dublin’s Peacock Alley, he earned the venue a Michelin star.
After coming to Christchurch in 2009, Poulot was head chef at Saggio di Vino until the restaurant was destroyed in the earthquakes. He then went to work at the Nor'Wester in Amberley.