A restaurant in Cornwall that closed its doors suddenly did so while nearly half a million pounds in debt, it has been revealed. Appleton’s Bar and Restaurant, in Fowey, closed with immediate effect in November.
The restaurant, on Fore Street, made all of its staff redundant and the premises was cleared out shortly after. A voluntary liquidator was appointed and it can now be confirmed that the business owed a six-figure sum including wages to staff and tens of hundreds of thousands to several other creditors.
The business, owned by Andrew Appleton, 58, and wife Lyndsey, 44, owed a grand estimated total of £440,162.31 as confirmed in a statement of affairs submitted to Companies House by the appointed liquidators, Norwich-based Parker Andrews. The largest sum owed to any creditor is £200,000 to HMRC.
Monies owed include £18,342.67 owed to staff for holidays or wages. According to the statement of affairs, the business held £10,509.61 in assets which would leave £7,732.96 owed to staff with that money owed being treated as “preferential creditors”.
A preferential creditor is a creditor who is given priority to be paid back before other creditors when a company goes into liquidation or bankruptcy. This priority is established by insolvency laws and is determined by the Insolvency Act 1986.
Get the best stories and latest news delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you want here.
Other creditors out of pocket include the landlord, owed £6,214.70 in rent arrears, the directors themselves who were owed £48,496.54 and business loans including one from Square Loan, owed £38, 824.51 and a Funding Circle loan of £40,824.04.
Local companies including Real Cornish Crab Company, Phillip Warren, West Country Fruit Sales and St Austell Brewery are also listed among creditors.
The restaurant business was established in 2016 and opened to great acclaim, remaining open for eight years. In a statement at the time of the closure last year, the couple said: “We are deeply saddened, and with a deep, constant feeling of nausea in the pits of our stomach, we post this to say we have closed the restaurant with immediate effect.
Appleton’s in Fowey closed suddenly in November 2024
(Image: Google Maps)
“All creditors will be contacted in the next week, all future reservations will be cancelled and hopefully contacted (we’re sorry we won’t be able to look after you) please be kind and patient should you need a response from anyone and please direct those queries to us and not our team.”
Just months prior, Appleton’s was ranked among the best restaurants in Cornwall by The Times’ food expert. It was also a finalist for restaurant of the year in the Food Lifestyle Awards 2024. Appleton’s paid tribute to staff following the closure, saying the decision to lay them off had made “our stomachs churn.”