Closed city restaurant to go into liquidation
AN award-winning Plymouth restaurant is to go into liquidation and the company wound up after having shut suddenly.
Liquidators have been appointed to put Jolly Jacks into creditors voluntary liquidation. This process is where directors formally close an insolvent business voluntarily, often in the face of creditor pressure. A resolution to wind up Jolly Jacks Ltd was passed on November 17.
The award-winning Mayflower Marina eaterie shut on October 28, with owner Sue Robson blaming staff shortages, reduced takings and rising food and utility bills for driving it out of business.
She insisted staff will be paid money owed and said she was confident the business was salvageable and new owners could re-employ workers.
However, the company is now to be liquidated, which means it cannot be bought. But assets such as stock and goodwill can be bought.
Mrs Robson, who now lives in Portugal, said the business had been hit with a string of problems which had made it “unsustainable”. She said the restaurant had found it increasingly difficult to recruit staff following the relaxation of Covid restrictions.
Wages for chefs, usually supplied via freelance agencies, had gone up and many had been “poached” by other eateries, she said. The business had then been hit by other cost hikes while at the same time earnings had fallen.
Mrs Robson said that, like all hospitality establishments, Jolly Jacks traded for five months under “some very tight restriction” due to the pandemic in 2020/21. But even after restrictions were lifted, the post-Brexit situation meant a large part of the workforce had left the country or changed profession.
She said that Jolly Jacks’ downfall began in late July and early August 2022 when chefs left and the restaurant was forced to reduce hours and limit its menu, sometimes even closing completely. Mrs Robson said it meant that during what should have been the restaurant’s most profitable months, in August and September, takings were down about £120,000 net.
This money was needed to carry the business through the winter months. Coupled with rising food and utility bills, it made it unsustainable and left Mrs Robson with no choice but to close the business.
Jolly Jacks, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2020, was founded by Mrs Robson and her life-long friend Sally Baum, who met as teenagers in the Midlands and reconnected as adults.
A trip to Mayflower Marina, where Ms Baum and Mrs Robson and her husband were setting off on a yachting trip to Gran Canaria, introduced them to a restaurant called Astras.
When it became available a few months later Ms Baum and Mrs Robson decided to take over the venue, rename and refurbish it, and a decade of success followed.
It won the Best Restaurant honour at the City And Waterfront Awards and became a must-visit destination.
It even counted celebrities such as TV funny-girl Dawn French, chef James Martin and teenage environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg as patrons.
Ms Baum stepped down as a director in October 2021. She suffered an injury in a sailing accident and decided to retire. It left Mrs Robson as sole director and shareholder.