Financial crisis behind collapse of superchef’s restaurant empire revealed

Mr Flinn’s restaurants in the Corn Exchange in the city centre closed in June at the end of a near-decade in which he cemented Leeds’s place on the country’s gastronomic map.

Insolvency experts Lines Henry pinpoint the company’s decision to open a £1m restaurant – Piazza by Anthony’s – in the 14,000 sq ft ground floor of the Corn Exchange in 2008 as a key factor in its downfall.

The report says that “the restaurant never quite achieved the sales necessary to cover the large investment and overhead costs associated with such a large space”.

It also reveals that “substantial rent arrears” began to build up as a result of the losses being accrued by the Corn Exchange operation.

While the firm’s landlord wrote off £50,000 of arrears in December 2011 and agreed to a reduction in annual rent, “nevertheless, the [company’s] fortunes failed to improve amidst disappointing footfall numbers for the Corn Exchange”.

In a bid to turn things round, Mr Flinn’s fine dining restaurant in Boar Lane – which opened in 2004 – was incorporated into the Corn Exchange set-up in March this year.

That move, however, coincided with the opening of the city centre’s Trinity Leeds shopping complex, which boasts several restaurants of its own.

And, the report says, after Trinity’s arrival on the scene there was a “significant reduction” in trade that left the company, Anthony’s Restaurant Ltd, “considerably” below its break-even point.

A letter was sent in June from a solicitor acting for the company’s landlord saying the current situation “could not be allowed to continue”.

The firm closed its restaurants and went into administration shortly afterwards.

Lines Henry’s report says a claim for nearly £40,000 has been received from the Anthony’s Restaurant’s only secured creditor, NatWest Bank.

The report also indicates that claims for just over £115,000 have been lodged by the firm’s unsecured creditors.

Anthony’s Patisserie, which opened in Leeds’s Victoria Quarter in 2006, also closed in June this year.

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