Seafood restaurant wound up

CARDIFF restaurant Seafood Shack is being wound up and liquidators are to be appointed.

The restaurant closed before Christmas with one of the directors claiming its booking system had been subjected to a “cyber attack”. There were also issues with its alcohol licence.

Since its closure, staff and suppliers came forward claiming they were owed thousands of pounds. Now, the company behind the restaurant Seafood Shack (Cardiff ) Limited is being wound up. An official notice has been published. It says a meeting of the company has been held and it has been decided “the company cannot, by reason of its current and/or impending liabilities, continue its business and that the company be wound up voluntarily”.

It also says Simon Thomas Barriball and Sandra McAlister of McAlister & Co Insolvency Practitioners Limited, based in Swansea, are acting as joint liquidators for the purposes of the voluntary winding up of the company and that they may act jointly and severally in this regard.

The notice adds a virtual meeting of creditors is expected to be held at the end of January to confirm the appointment of liquidators. McAlister & Co Insolvency Practitioners Ltd is dealing with queries.

In the aftermath of the closure, staff contacted the Echo and said they had concerns about the way the business was run.

The staff, who asked to be kept anonymous, said no official pay slips were given, wages were paid by cheque and up to two weeks late and they were told to deduct 20% of their wages so the company could send it to HMRC. One former member of staff said they were left £1,500 out of pocket, another said they are owed £4,000.

A supplier said his firm’s reputation has been damaged after a number of contacts were not paid for their work.

Sources said concerns were raised by environmental health staff from Cardiff council about operating practices ahead of the Champions League final on June 3 which meant the restaurant was only allowed to open to sell alcohol, not food.

The Echo spoke to director Darryl Kavanagh who said he did not recognise claims of staff being owed of £1,500 or £4,000 and said financial matters fell under another director, Terry Rogers. Mr Kavanagh said he worked with suppliers directly and said he would have met with, and hired, any contacts himself.

Mr Kavanagh said he never intended to open to sell food for the Champions League final and the environmental health issue was in relation to a faulty boiler which meant there was no hot water.

In relation to senior staff, he said: “Any staff who were let go were incapable of doing their job. There were people who came in and gave references and CVs and they couldn’t do their job. The budgets were way over and wages were way out of kilter.

“My job was to come here and get it fitted out and get it open.

“Then there was supposed to be a roll out.”

When Seafood Shack opened in Cardiff in May last year, it was presented as the first in a chain that would be rolled out across major cities.