Rileys’ unsecured creditors face £5m shortfall: As insolvency specialists from Deloitte continue their search to find a buyer for the collapsed sports bar and snooker hall chain Rileys, unsecured creditors may be hit by a £5m shortfall. Deloittes, which was appointed administrator of Rileys in September, and immediately closed 15 of the company’s 59 sites says it is in talks with a number of potential purchasers over a possible going concern sale. The process is expected to take up to two months although Deloittes has said it will continue to trade the company for longer if necessary in order to secure a better outcome for creditors. LT Pub Management has been brought in to run the chain in the interim. In a report to creditors, Deloittes said Rileys’ owner, Bingo Jersey Ltd (BJL), is owed £4.2m and Santander is owed £900,000. Both are secured claims although it is unclear how much each party is likely to recoup. However, Deloitte revealed claims from unsecured creditors totalling £5m are expected to remain outstanding. Landlords and suppliers are among those looking likely to miss out. Rileys entered administration before, in November 2012, when its assets, including 77 sports bars and clubs, were sold to BJL as part of a pre-pack deal. The company subsequently underperformed against forecasts, which its management team blamed on a warm summer and disappointing trading during the football World Cup in Brazil. By August, it was facing a funding requirement of about £1.5m to meet liabilities from HM Revenue & Customs and its creditors.

Quiz the Nation raises £300,000 on CrowdCube: Quiz the Nation, the TV game show for pubs and bars, presented by former Krypton Factor host Gordon Burns, has successfully overfunded on CrowdCube, raising £300,000 for a 27.8% equity share from 202 investors. The company secured 154% of funding against an original target of £195,000 in 50 days. Quiz the Nation will use the investment to accelerate the rate at which it can reach pub and bar operators across the UK with its pub quiz concept. The additional capital will also enable the company to have more resources to produce and market its programmes to operators. Rod McMillan, chairman of Quiz the Nation, said: “We feel extremely humbled to have been overfunded by £105,000 and have reached £300,000 of investment – what a result! I’d like to say a huge thank you to our 202 investors for their absolute belief in Quiz the Nation. It’s full steam ahead from here – we’re on a mission to bring Quiz the Nation to every pub and bar across the country.” If you would like to show Quiz the Nation in your pubs from January 2015, you can register your interest today at www.quizthenation.co.uk

Taylor St Baristas coffee bond hits 25% raised level: Nine-strong coffee shop chain Taylor St Baristas, led by Richard Shaer, has raised £379,000 from 167 investors in the first eight days after launching a coffee bean bond aimed at raising a minimum of £1.5m – the bond pays 8% interest over a four-year term. The bond is 25% funded at this stage This year, the company’s unaudited accounts show turnover of £3,337,000 from nine shops, with shop pre-central overhead Ebida of £278,000 and actual Ebitda of £110,000, producing an overall loss of £276,000. Like-for-like sales rose by 14% between April and September this year. The company forecasts that 30 sites in 2020 will produce turnover of £19,888,000 and shop Ebitda of £5,284,000, central Ebitda of £4,284,000 and pre-tax profit of £2,721,000. The Tolley siblings currently own circa 60% of the Taylor St business. The business raised £900,000 in equity from MTLS Ventures in 2013 – the investor holds a 9.91% stake in the business. It is expected that three unnamed existing investors will invest circa £214,000 in new equity by 1 December 2014 although there is “no formal commitment”. The fund-raising has 47 days left.

Agent AG&G offers freehold of site in Hampton Court tenanted by Brunning & Price: The property agent AG&G is offering the freehold of the Mute Swan, opposite the main gate to Hampton Court Palace in Middlesex, for £1.3m. It is tenanted by the Restaurant Group’s Brunning & Price brand. AG&G director Anthony Alder, who is acting on behalf of the Crown Estate, said: “It is a beautiful mid-19th century pub-restaurant with an excellent reputation. It’s also an excellent investment at a guide price of £1.3. The rental is £65,000 a year with a lease that runs to 2034, which works out as roughly a 5% cent return. The rent is adjusted every year by the retail price index, with a collar and cap at 1% and 4% respectively, so the buyer can be certain of a sustainable income. There is a tenant-only break clause in 2024.”

London pub in middle of redevelopment area sells for more than £800,000 after 14 offers: The freehold of the Rose & Crown in Walworth, Southwark, London, in an area that is undergoing redevelopment, has been bought for more than £800,000 through the property agent AG&G. AG&G’s Panayiotis Themistocli said: “There was a huge amount of interest. We received 14 serious offers from investors and developers who were looking at converting or developing the property for alternative uses. The winning bidder is an investor/developer who has let the pub to an independent operator while he considers next steps. Whether to keep it as a pub or apply for permission to convert it will be a thorny issue.” The pub, in a heavily residential area but only two miles from Charing Cross in central London, is sandwiched between two new developments that will add another 375 homes to its catchment area.

Crazy Pedro’s sets 28 November as opening date: An opening date of 28 November has been announced for Crazy Pedro’s Part-Time Pizza Parlour, the New York-style pizza and cocktail bar from the team behind Liars Club and Black Dog Ballroom in Manchester. The new venue is in the former Starbucks cafe off Bridge Street, and right above Liars Club. The first of a series of soft openings this week saw Rochdale celebrity chef Andrew Nutter cooking bacon and truffle focaccia to serve up to guests, who tried out the venue’s cocktail offering, including boozy milkshakes and frozen Margaritas. When the pizza ovens are finally going, they will be baking huge 16-inch thin-crust creations from which customers can buy a “part time” slice for £3 or go the whole “full time” hog for £15. The venue was once the site of Manchester United legend George Best’s fashion emporium Edwardia in the 1970s, and one of the pizzas on sale will be the red-focused Best E, with red peppers, pepperoni, salami and pulled pork. For Manchester City fans, the Summer B pizza will come with blue cheese. The venue will open daily from 12pm and will be serving pizzas right up to 4am.

£60m revamp for Wigan centre to create restaurant spaces: A £60m revamp of the Galleries shopping centre in Wigan will create a leisure hub including a multiplex cinema and restaurants. The proposals have been given the green light by Wigan Council’s planning committee, after being recommended for approval by planning officers. The existing multi-storey car park and Morrisons store are to be remodelled and the indoor and outdoor markets will be relocated. The work would take place over a four to five-year period and address the “long term decline of the shopping centre”, according to planning officers at the council. They said the development represents a “very significant and vitally important private investment within the town centre”. It would address the decline of the Galleries and assist with regeneration initiative elsewhere and is therefore “critical” to the long-term economic health of the town centre, and represented “an exciting opportunity for the town to further enhance its reputation of being a vibrant place to live and work.” David Molyneux, deputy leader of Wigan Council, said: “That a private developer wants to invest such a large sum of money into the town centre is a tremendous vote of confidence in Wigan. This will provide a big boost to the local economy and demonstrates the huge potential of this area.”