Led by Peter Rock, The Exchequer Wine Bar in Ranelagh held a creditors’ meeting. He explained why the business went bust, as its landlord tried to appoint another liquidator.
A liquidator has been appointed to the popular restaurant and wine bar The Exchequer in Ranelagh after a contentious creditors’ meeting on Tuesday. Accountant Cormac Mohan of Fitzwilliam Corporate was accepted as liquidator by a majority of creditors despite opposition by the landlord to the venue and the Revenue Commissioners, who wanted to appoint accountant John Healy of Kirby Healy to the role.
At the creditors’ meeting, the chairman of Meet Eat Drink Dublin Ltd, the company behind the Ranelagh bar, presented a statement of affairs to creditors. This showed a deficiency as regards unsecured creditors of €631,000. The Exchequer recently closed after 15 years’ trading despite being described by The Irish Times as a “staple of the buzzy Dublin 6 suburb.”
Peter Rock, the chair of the company and its co-owner, told creditors about the efforts made by the company to save the business. According to a creditor, Rock said that the pandemic had posed an “unprecedented challenge” to the business, leaving it financially vulnerable. He said rising costs, the Vat increase and an unexpected catch-up energy bill had all impacted cash flow.
Rock said The Exchequer employed about ten people and that every effort had been made to protect creditors and staff. He said that over the lifetime of the company, it had invested substantially in both opening and later refitting the business. He said it had reduced wage bills and tried unsuccessfully to get rent relief from its landlord.
The company, he said, appointed the accountancy firm Azets to try and save the business using the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (Scarp). He said Azets believed the business could survive if it could be relieved of its Covid-19-related debts. An unnamed external investor was secured and an attempt was made to negotiate a deal with the landlord of the business.
Rock said he believed a deal was close to being agreed in early February 2025 but his landlord did not agree to this, causing the business to close.
A vote was called among creditors to approve the appointment of a liquidator. Over 50 per cent of creditors voted for Mohan, including nearly all trade suppliers. Over 40 per cent of creditors, made up of the bar’s landlord with the support of the Revenue Commissioners, voted for Healy instead.
As liquidator, Cormac Mohan is now expected to sell the assets of the business. Located over three floors, including outdoor terraces, the Spanish-style tapas restaurant won various awards including being named one of “the 15 coolest bars in Dublin” by food-and-drink publication The Taste.