Earth Purveyors of Fine Food has reportedly entered voluntary liquidation, with claims the company “has no money whatsoever”.
The Gold Coast cafe was run by chef Ant Ewart and was in business for two years.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reports Ewart placed the company, located in the suburb of Paradise Point, in voluntary liquidation a few days ago, with Steven Kugel from Insolvency Experts named as the liquidator.
Kugel confirmed to News.com.au the cafe stopped trading on the weekend and said there is a small amount of money owed to creditors along with a tax debt.
Workers will also be compensated.
“I understand there are some employees with perhaps small unpaid wages and leave entitlements we’ll assist – when a company goes into liquidation, there’s a Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme that makes sure employees don’t miss out.” he said.
“This company has no money whatsoever, so the employees should be able to make a claim under that brilliant scheme and we’ll assist them.”
The reason behind the liquidation will be investigated, with Kugel indicating the tax debt could mean the business was not viable. “Perhaps costs were out of whack with income, but we just don’t know at this stage,” he said.
Ewart is known in the industry for his role as head chef at Raes on Wategoes in Byron Bay and his time at Macleay St Bistro in Sydney’s Potts Point.
Image credit: Facebook