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What Does Going Into Administration Mean?

Stapleford Park Hotel Goes Into Liquidation

Following the collapse of the wedding venue, Stapleford Park Hotel in Leicestershire,  90 jobs have been lost and all reservations and events cancelled.It was confirmed on Thursday that Leonard Curtis had been appointed as Stapleford Park Limited's liquidator.The Grade-I listed property near Melton Mowbray was not owned by the hotel company, according to the firm, and its future "remains uncertain at this stage."Following the venue's closing, which featured superstars including the late US pop sensation Michael Jackson, 92 employees were laid off."Our priority was to ensure the most orderly wind-down of trading possible," stated Alex Cadwallader of Leonard Curtis, who was named a joint liquidator with Neil Bennett.Alex said; “Significant efforts were made to communicate with and re-locate the guests that were staying at the hotel, which was at approximately 50% occupancy.“Leonard Curtis attended the site and worked closely with front of house staff to make this possible, and the wider group also met some essential costs to limit the impact on guests and future bookings.“However, we fully appreciate that some guests will have been adversely impacted.”The Grade-I listed mansion is surrounded by 500 acres of parkland and 48 guest rooms.The hotel's management "was unable to generate the turnover required," according to the liquidator, "despite efforts to reach profitability." 

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Stapleford Park Hotel Goes Into Liquidation
hypersonic plane

Reaction Engines Goes Into Administration

​​Reaction Engines, a company working on a hybrid rocket engine that will allow for hypersonic flying, submitted a notice of intention to appoint administrators. The administration will be managed by PwC restructuring specialists.The company was dubbed as being able to launch the "next Concorde" but now 173 of the 208 staff have been made redundant.In a statement PwC said [Reaction Engines] had been “pursuing opportunities to raise further funds, but unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful”.Sarah O’Toole, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: “It’s with great sadness that a pioneering company with a 35-year history of spearheading aerospace innovation has unfortunately been unable to raise the funding required to continue operations.”The Oxfordshire business had been negotiating for a financial lifeline with its shareholders, notably the Strategic Development Fund of the United Arab Emirates.It was hoped that Sabre, the hybrid jet and rocket engine being developed by Reaction Engines, could have allowed hypersonic spacecraft to travel from Britain to Australia in as little as four hours.Reaction's Sabre technology, short for Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine, was first developed in 1989.The company has received several government subsidies in addition to investments from BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. But it also consumed tens of millions of pounds annually.Last year, the business raised £40 million from investors, including those in the United Arab Emirates, increasing its total capital to almost £150 million.The most recent financial statements show that Reaction's yearly losses in 2022 increased from £18.4 million to £25.7 million, while its sales decreased from £7.2 million to £4.7 million.

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Reaction Engines Goes Into Administration
budget box

How will the October Budget affect struggling businesses?

Many company directors will be picking over the budget to see how it will affect their bottom line. Without doubt, this has been a budget that has taken the majority of the taxes directly from businesses as opposed to "working people."For companies that are already struggling, this budget will be a big worry. National Insurance When a company goes "bust,” it is often the case that the biggest creditor is HMRC. It is currently estimated that there is some £40bn of taxes owed to HMRC by struggling companies.The changes set to be introduced in April 2025 will make it more likely that businesses will become insolvent. The main reason for this is a rise in employers’ national insurance contributions. Unlike Capital Gains Tax (CGT), that is levied on profits, i.e. companies that are not struggling, any increase in employers’ contributions are paid irrespective of the financial state of the company. This is likely to put huge pressure on. What is more, employers’ National Insurance (NI) is a tax that is paid on the 19th day after the employee is paid. CGT and VAT are not paid until between 3 and 18 months later.One good thing is that the employers NI allowance is increasing from £5k to £10k which means that very small businesses with a handful of employees will actually be better off.  To see exactly how such small businesses will be affected by the changes, see this post here on Linkedin. https://lnkd.in/eKKSc2r9 Minimum Wage An increase in the minimum wage will disproportionately affect already struggling businesses as they will have no headroom to absorb the increase. Struggling businesses are often more nervous about raising prices than more profitable ones, as any loss of a customer could spell the end.If your company is already struggling with payroll taxes (NI) then it is probably a good idea to get ahead of the situation and talk to company rescue experts at

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How will the October Budget affect struggling businesses?

Completely Motoring Goes Into Administration

Family owned Staverton and Gloucester-based company  Completely Motoring Ltd. (CM) that specialises in Vehicles and Motorbike sales has gone into administration and is seeking a buyer.The firm was created in 2009 and has grown to become a major used and new vehicle reseller in Wales and the South West, employing 165 people across 14 showrooms and 11 locations.To March 31, 2023, the firm reported turnover of £78.4 million, up from £50.3 million, although pre-tax earnings fell from slightly over £1 million to £677,000.After a difficult summer and financial issues, the group has gone into administration.Azets restructuring partner and licensed insolvency practitioner Jonathan Amor, Matthew Richards, and Alessandro Sidoli of Xeinadin Corporate Recovery Limited were appointed joint administrators of Completely Motoring Ltd, John Wilkins (Motor Engineers) Ltd, and Thunder Road Motorcycles Ltd.After their appointment, the joint administrators have invited interested parties to approach them as quickly as possible to ensure the group's continuation.Jonathan Amor said: "After weak summer sales, the group is struggling financially. Thus, the group is under administration to preserve it.”We are discussing sales with interested parties. We have received many expressions of interest and ask any further parties to contact us as soon as possible to secure the group's future and save as much of the business and employment as feasible."The group's 2023 accounts showed £4.37 million in fixed assets, £23.8 million in current assets, and £2 million in net assets.

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Completely Motoring Goes Into Administration
TGI Logo

TGI Fridays Secures A Rescue Deal Resulting In 35 Immediate Site Closures

Update 07th OctoberBreal Capital and Calveton UK have secured a rescue deal for TGI Fridays, meaning the chain will continue to exist on UK high streets.However, the deal includes just 51 of its 86 sites, forcing 35 to shut with immediate effect.1,012 redundancies have been made - please refer to our guide here on your rights in redundancy.The new private equity owners, Breal and Calveton, jointly own the upmarket restaurant chain D&D London. Between them they have also had investments in Byron Burger and wine bar chain Vinoteca - so they are no stranger to the restaurant world! A full list of the TGI Friday sites closingBarnsley Birmingham Bracknell Brighton Marina Bristol Cabot Circus Cardiff Newport Road Chelmsford Cheltenham Croydon Derby Dundee Durham Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird Enfield Gateshead Gloucester Quays Halifax Jersey Leeds Leeds Trinity Leicester Lincoln Manchester Royal Exchange Newcastle Eldon Square Newport Northampton Prestwich Romford Sale Solihull Southampton West Quay South Speke Sutton Coldfield Swansea Watford NorthUpdate 19th SeptemberHostmore, the owners of TGI Fridays has gone into administration and the 86 sites are now officially up for sale."The sale process remains ongoing, with no decisions having been made to close any existing stores, and TGI Fridays continues to operate normally across the country," a Hostmore spokesperson told the BBC.According to reports in the Telegraph administrators at Teneo, the restructuring firm, are on standby if TGI Fridays cannot sell its restaurants.  The firm ran into trouble following its attempted foray into the US.  The chain has 86 restaurants and employs 3000 people.The owners of the chain, Hostmore, has £35m of debts.The business was spun out of private equity trust Electra in November 2021 in a move that Hostmore chief executive Robert Cook hailed as a “significant milestone”.Its shares started trading at 147p but by March of last year it had lost 90% of its value.  By Monday 16th September 2024 the whole company has been valued at £1m. Could it be that TGIs could go into a CVA? The CVA would only really work if the main problem was high rents or just certain outlets needed to be closed down.  The money that it owes its lender is no doubt secured so they have the power to call in administrators at any time.Without knowing more about its exact financial position it is hard to say.If the company does go into administration it is likely that a number of the restaurants, which are making money, will be snapped up by other restaurant groups and may continue to trade under the TGI brand.  If not then the owners will take advantage of their prime locations.

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TGI Fridays Secures A Rescue Deal Resulting In 35 Immediate Site Closures

Inverness Caledonian Thistle has gone into administration

Inverness Caledonian Thistle has gone into administration having failed to secure new investment.The P&J reports that this season the League One team stands to lose £1.2m.Former chairman of Caley Thistle, Alan Savage has been searching recent months for a buyer for the team.Savage kept the club running in August with his own £200,000.According to the article, leading football administrator Bryan Jackson has assigned Inverness to BDO, the accounting company handling Rangers' insolvency and serving as administrators for Dunfermline Athletic and Hearts.With repetitions and a point deduction hanging, this will instantly cause problems on and off the pitch.With a 15 point deduction from the SPFL, Caley Thistle's chances of promotion back to the Championship would be seriously undermined.Already five points off Queen of the South at League One, Duncan Ferguson's squad is might find themselves lowest on minus six points.The club has meanwhile declared Charlie Reilly's loan from Dundee signed.Joining on a temporary loan until January next year, the 22-year-oldAs Reilly was nominated for Scotland League Two Player of the Year, he scored an amazing 24 goals and gave Albion Rovers 19.Read about the football creditors rule

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Inverness Caledonian Thistle has gone into administration

Hadden Construction Goes Into Administration

Hadden Construction, the Perthshire housebuilder established in 1992, has gone into administration with the loss of 66 Jobs.Work on active sites including supported living apartment developments and affordable homes will stop depending on an evaluation of ongoing projects.This week joint administrators Ben Cairns and Jonny Marston from Alvarez & Marsal were appointed to "wind down" company operations.The failure of the company was blamed on rising materials costs and an increase in labour rates.Mr. Cairns said: "Like other contractors, Hadden Construction has been battling a number of headwinds in recent years, including inflated materials prices, rising labour costs and supply chain interruptions.“As administrators, we will seek an orderly wind down of the operations and will welcome any investor interest in the company’s assets.”Mr Cairns added: “We understand that today’s news is unsettling for the company’s employees and will be doing all we can to support them over the weeks ahead.”With a turnover of £30.2 million, the most recent figures for the company for the year ended March 31 2023 show a pre-tax profit of £260,503.Hadden was appointed by the Scottish Procurement Alliance to its £100 million Refurbishment and Modernisation (RM3) Framework in March of this year. Apart from several other public sector frameworks including Scotland Excel's New Build Residential Framework, Wheatley Group, Link Group, Hub East Central, Hub South East and The City of Edinburgh Council, Hadden was already appointed to SPA's Public Buildings and Infrastructure (PB3) Framework and New Build Housing Construction (H2).In addition, it was preparing to replace 20 chalets on a permanent Gipsy Traveller site near Perth, the company signed a £1.9m design and construct contract in April to deliver 10 reasonably priced homes for rent in Newtyle for Abertay Housing Association.Elsewhere, Hadden had worked on a £6.25 million renovation at the Muirhead House student residence at the University of Stirling.The construction industry has the highest insolvency rate when compared to other industries. This is due to a number of factors.Below are some of the common problems we’ve seen happen in the industry: Contract arguments and QS problems. Bad debts. Delays in repayments from HMRC, regarding CIS deductions (which are connected to PAYE scheme). HMRC can be slow in making CIS refunds, leading to issues with cash flow. Time to pay deals with HMRC for PAYE and VAT (where applicable) being too expensive for your cashflow. Losses made on large contracts, where large clients or main contractors slow down payments and sometimes go into administration. Hitting YOUR cashflow. So called “subby bashing”. Issues with sub-contractor non performance or slow completions. Difficult customers, be they private individuals, clients or contractors – who add extra work on and won’t pay extra! Lengthy contracts with material prices agreed at beginning. I.e. quotes do not keep up with rising costs. Especially tough after huge price rises in recent years. Less focus on financial accounts, financial management due to directors and management being onsite. Hard to win new contracts if cash flow is tight, perhaps due to low credit rating. Retention sums not released at agreed times. Suppliers taking legal actions such as County Court Judgments, or even issuing winding up petitions.

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Hadden Construction Goes Into Administration
stone kitchen

Levantina Goes Into Administration

Operating in Basingstoke and Rotherham, Levantina UK, the stone company, has entered administration citing declining demand in the UK's housing and refurbishment sector as a main cause of its financial difficulties.Levantina UK is the UK distribution division of Levantina Group, a worldwide stone business focused in extracting, manufacturing and distributing stone products including marble, granite, limestone and other natural stones.Mostly buying semi-finished stones in slab form, the company has more than 350 B2B customers from stonemasons and kitchen and bathroom businesses in the UK.Levantina (UK) Limited reported turnover of £5.1 million in accounts for the year ended December 31 2022. But over the same period, its post-tax losses grew from about £538,000 to almost £723,000.Now appointed as joint administrators of Interpath Advisory are Nick Holloway and Stephen Absolom; the wider multinational Levantina Group is not affected by the administration. After the joint administrators were appointed, the company kept its twelve employees."We are working with the business to continue to trade and keep operations running at the sites in Basingstoke and Rotherham, so it is business as usual for staff and customers. The administration provides a period of protection while we explore options for the future of the business in the UK" said Interpath Advisory Managing Director and joint administrator Nick Holloway.The company's assets in its 2022 accounts came out to be just under £3.4 million. But at the time, it owed debtors around £5.8 million, and overall the company had liabilities of more than £2.4 million.

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Levantina Goes Into Administration

Remainder of The Body Shop Stores Saved From Closure Amid Administration Rescue Deal

Update as per September 2024100+ Body Shop stores have been rescued from closure following an administration rescue deal by a consortium led by Mike Jatania.Mr Jatania is known a 'Cosmetics King'. The deal came from Aurea, his investment firm.Reports share that this new deal will ''steer the Body Shop's revival and reclaim its global leadership in the ethical beauty sector it pioneered''.Sky News report more.End of February 2024According to reports the Body Shop may be using a CVA to exit from administration in order to continue trading.  The administrators have drawn up plans to discuss rent cuts with landlords.  Read our page on administration followed by CVA 20th February 2024The Body Shop has announced that it will close approximately half of its stores, starting with 7 that will close immediately today; Surrey Quays (London), Oxford Street (London), Canary Wharf (London), Cheapside (London), Nuneaton (Warwickshire), Ashford Town Centre (Kent), Bristol Queens Road (Bristol).Along with the store closures, is the cutting of 40% of roles at its London headquarters - leaving around 400 full-time employees.The Body Shop ambassador programme is also going to close. This is the scheme were individuals sell products for a commission.Administrators say the brand's current portfolio is ''no longer viable'' after ''years of unprofitability''. The restructuring will include a renewed focus on the companies' products, online sales channels and wholesale. 13 February 2024Following the reports this weekend, administrators from FRP Advisory have officially been appointed to ''accelerate the restructuring'' of the UK arm of The Body Shop.Administrators will explore all options going forward for the business.Joint administrators, Tony Wright, Geoff Rowley, and Alastair Massey, will continue to trade the business in administration. 12 February 2024It has been reported this weekend that cosmetics retail chain, The Body Shop, is preparing to appoint administrators from FRP Advisory to its UK arm. This comes just six weeks after the chains new owner, Aurelius, took control.It is understood that the retailer experienced weak trading over the festive period and early January, coupled with having insufficient working capital.In the UK, Body Shop has 200 stores to the along with its headquarters in London -It seems unlikely that the British cosmetics, skin-care and perfume company, set up by the late Anita Roddick, will disappear from our high streets completely.  What is likely, is that there will be a focus on reducing its costs and building up a stronger online presence.  The brand still has appeal for its ethical stance and is popular with younger shoppers. Though the process of administration is being explored for the UK operations, the brands global franchise partners are not affected.In fact, very recently, parts of The Body Shop's businesses across Europe and Asia  have been sold to an unnamed family office - according to Retail Week.Will we see The Body Shop appoint administrators? Will there be a change in owners for the fourth time?It is interesting to see that the company has not opted for a Company Voluntary Arrangement.  This may be due to the fact that its problems do not stem from a number of poorly performing stores (which can be exited in a CVA) but to more widespread difficulties.  It is also likely that the owners have security over the assets of the brand.  If they have security then they can appoint administrators and are first in line for any payouts.This news piece will be kept up to date in accordance to current events. You can find out more on this story from BBC News. 

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Remainder of The Body Shop Stores Saved From Closure Amid Administration Rescue Deal

CTD Tiles Has Gone Into Administration – Some Stores Saved By Topps

CTD Tiles goes into administration and closes 56 of its outlets.The company's administrators stated that 268 employees were laid off as a result of the failure.Despite the huge number of retail closures, rival Topps Group purchased 30 CTD Tiles locations and two distribution sites in a rescue plan.Topps Tiles has purchased CTD Tiles' brand and intellectual property for £9 million from administration.The tile expert has purchased the supplier's brands, which include CTD Tiles, CTD Trade, and CTD Architectural Tiles, as well as 30 retail outlets, chosen inventory, and all related intellectual property.Topps stated that the retailer is "complementary" to its other businesses and that the acquired stores and assets provide it with "the opportunity to make a meaningful entry into the housebuilder segment and expand its existing share of the architect and designer segment".Topps bought 30 branches that generated £20 million in sales for the fiscal year ending June 2024 and will continue to trade under the CTD brand name. Why didn't Topps Tiles buy the company in a Pre Pack Administration? A pre pack administration sale is possible in these circumstances but the downside is that Topps would have had to take on all the employees via a TUPE process.  By waiting until the administration was started they were able to pick up the assets they wanted.  CTD might have been able to use a CVA to reduce stores but without knowing the make up of the creditors it is difficult to say.  If the business was simply not viable or had significant secured lenders then an administration would have been the correct procedure.If you have purchased goods from CTD then see this page on your rights Below is a full list of the stores which have been immediately shut and those which have been saved: 56 store closures: Aintree, Liverpool Ashford, Kent Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Basildon, Essex Blackpool, Lancashire Bolton, Lancashire Brierley Hill, West Midlands Cambridge Central, Cambridgeshire Canterbury, Kent Carlisle, Cumbria Chelmsford, Essex Chester, Cheshire Colchester, Essex Coventry, Warwickshire Cricklewood, Greater London Croydon, Greater London Denton, Greater Manchester Derby Ascot Drive, Derbyshire Dundee, Scotland Eastbourne, East Sussex Exeter, Devon Falkirk, Scotland Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Glasgow Helen Street, Scotland Hanwell, Greater London Harlow, Essex Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Ipswich, Suffolk Kilmarnock, Scotland King’s Lynn, Norfolk Leeds, West Yorkshire Lincoln, Lincolnshire Livingston, Scotland Maidstone, Kent Newcastle North Shields, Tyne and Wear Newcastle West Kingston Park, Tyne and Wear Northampton, Northamptonshire Peterlee, Scotland Plymouth, Devon Portsmouth, Hampshire Preston, Lancashire Rochdale, Lancashire Rotherham, South Yorkshire Slough, Berkshire Southampton, Hampshire St Albans, Hertfordshire Stirling, Scotland Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire Sunderland, Tyne and Wear Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands Swindon, Wiltshire Tonbridge, Kent Uxbridge, Greater London Wembley Stadium, Greater London Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset Whetstone, Leicestershire  30 stores rescued by Topps: Aberdeen, Scotland Basingstoke, Hampshire Birkenhead, Merseyside Cambridge Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire Chichester, West Sussex Coatbridge, Scotland Coulsdon, Greater London Crawley, West Sussex Darlington, County Durham Dorking, Surrey Edinburgh Seafield, Scotland Edinburgh Stenhouse, Scotland Fakenham, Norfolk Farnham, Surrey Glasgow London Road, Scotland Hampton, Greater London Hull, East Yorkshire Inverness, Scotland Newbury, Berkshire Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire Norwich, Norfolk Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Perth, Scotland Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Poole, Dorset Stockton, County Durham Warrington, Cheshire Watford, Hertfordshire Wimbledon, Greater London Woking, Surrey

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CTD Tiles Has Gone Into Administration – Some Stores Saved By Topps

The Floor Room Goes Into Administration Following Carpetright Collapse

The Floor Room, the flooring business with its main client being carpet retailer Carpetright, has gone into administration. The company traded out of 34 John Lewis stores and employed 196 people.  PwC the appointed administrator has made the majority redundant with some retained in head office to help close the business.Carpetright was bought in a rescue deal by rival Tapi, but will still be shutting more than 200 stores and cutting more than 1,000 jobs.Adam Seres, joint administrator at PwC UK, said The Floor Room “depended on its sister company, Carpetright, for much of its trading infrastructure”, and that the firm’s “financial position meant that it was impossible for the business to continue trading”.The Floor Room is owned by Nestware Holdings, a flooring group which was also the parent company of Carpetright prior to its collapse.Mr Seres added: “It is with sincere regret that this outcome has had to result in the redundancies of the majority of employees. We are committed to helping those affected and will work hard to ensure redundancy claims are processed as quickly as possible. “We know this is an unsettling time for many of those affected, and want to thank all the staff for the support they have given the company in these difficult circumstances.” 

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The Floor Room Goes Into Administration Following Carpetright Collapse

Cafe Rouge Owner Goes into Administration

Cafe Rouge Owner Goes into Administration12 July 2020It has been reported that Epiris, the buyout firm, is having detailed talks with administrators about buying Casual Dining Group.A deal is yet to be finalised, but is expected in the coming days.Elliott Advisors have also shared interest in purchasing the group.3 July 2020Bella Italia and Café Rouge owner, Casual Dining Group, has gone into administration. This has meant 91 outlets to close immediately and 1,900 of the 6,000 staff to lose their jobs.The 91 restaurants are located mainly in England, with a few in Scotland and Wales. The remaining 159 of the groups 250 outlets will remain open.Administrators, Alix Partners, are looking for any interested parties to make offers for all, or part of the business.It is reported that already multiple offers have been received of which the business hopes to pursue in efforts to rescue itself.Chief executive, James Spragg said: ‘’We are acutely aware of our duty to all employees and recognise that this is an incredibly difficult time for them.’’He stresses he will do all he can, working alongside and supporting the administrators, aiming to preserve as much employment as possible.The ‘’extreme operating environment’’ for the casual dining sector, among others, due to coronavirus forcing restaurants to shut since the start of March, is blamed. The full list of Casual Dining Group closures Bella ItaliaNewburyEast KilbrideBaker StreetCambridgeCheltenham PromSoton Above BarBlackpool ChurchWatfordPlymouthDunfermlineIslingtonGloucester QuaysHatfieldSouthendDidsburySolihullBrighton BelottaWindsorManchester DeansgateCamberley AtriumAberdeenLoughboroughCreweColliers WoodBrighton MarinaCardiffShaftesbury AveHemel HempsteadLeedsSilverlinkBexleyNew BrightonOrpingtonManchester Piccadilly Café Rouge Bury St EdmondsNewburyMaidstone Earl StSolihullPinnerBlackheathHarborne BirminghLeamington SpaYorkDulwichEpsomBirmingham MailboxWokingHitchinOxfordLeicesterChesterCheltenhamLoughtonChelmsfordCambridgeEdinburghSouthgateEsherBromleySalisburyCanterbury LongTrafford CentreExeter PrincesshayHertfordMilton KeynesLas IguanasHarrogateBrighton MarinaDerbySheffieldWokingChesterBrunswick SquareBraintreeBournemouthNorwichNewcastleBelgoBelgo KingswayBelgo NottinghamBelgo CentraalAirport sitesCafé Rouge Rapide Inverness AirportBristol AirportThe George Ale & Coffee House (T5)The Darwin Ale & Coffee House (T3)Jersey AirportOriel LutonOriel Heathrow T4La Salle Heathrow T2Bella Italia LutonOriel Heathrow T3Huxleus Heathrow T5The Shipyard Jersey

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Cafe Rouge Owner Goes into Administration