London-based cocktail bar and restaurant group Drake & Morgan’s creditors have approved a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) – with 90% voting in favour of proposals.
The Bowmark capital-backed group, a business operating 22 venues across London, Manchester and Edinburgh, announced the proposal – which will result in the closure of the Allegory and the Listing, in London as well as the Refinery in Spinningfields, Manchester – last month (May).
The firm said all team members in affected sites would be offered alternative roles within the business.
“We wish to thank our landlords, suppliers, business partners and other creditors for their support,” Jillian MacLean, founder and CEO of Drake & Morgan said.
Drake & Morgan to enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement Bar and restaurant group Drake & Morgan is to enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in order to help it recover from prolonged closures due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The decision follows a strategic review of the business and will lead to the closure of three of group’s 22 bars and restaurants. All team members in affected sites will be offered alternative roles within the company, it says.
The proposal seeks the support of landlords and, together with the backing of other creditors in recent months, will secure the long-term future of the business, according to the company.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has expanded its membership with the addition of JD Wetherspoon, Loungers, the Oakman Group and Drake & Morgan.
The BBPA – whose members account for around 90% of beer brewed in Britain and own around 20,000 of the nation’s pubs – stated that the growth in membership and more than £2bn in supportive measures in the Budget highlighted the value in having a strong voice for the pub and brewing sectors.
It added that the type of organisations that were now joining represented the transformation of the beer and pub sector into a “modern, innovative and forward-looking industry”.
Greene King revives team member support fund for third lockdown
Brewer and pub operator Greene King has launched a new Covid emergency support fund using voluntary salary sacrifices from its executive board and leadership team alongside a company donation in order to help its team members during lockdown three.
The new team member support fund mirrors the first edition which ran from March to June 2020, through which Greene King donated £650,000 in grants for team members to access essential food and retail vouchers.
Once again, the fund will again be managed independently by Licensed Trade Charity.
“It’s a really tough start to 2021, back into lockdown and all of our pubs closed,” Nick Mackenzie, CEO at Greene King, said. “Most of our team members are furloughed, and we know how severely this is affecting some of our people financially, so we wanted to bring back the team member support fund to help the members of our team who need it most at this really difficult t