Dundeed-based MacMerry300, which operated bar brands including Abandon Ship, the Luchador, the Draffens and the Bird and Bear, has fallen into liquidation with all of the company’s 63 staff having been made redundant.
Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint liquidators of the business, which operated 11 bars in Glasgow and Dundee.
The liquidators say that with significant financial pressure being faced by the company, the directors resolved the company was insolvent and should be wound-up voluntarily.
“This is unfortunately a further example of a business within the hospitality and leisure sector being unable to withstand ongoing testing trading conditions, as the re-emergence from Covid-related restrictions continue against a backdrop of accumulated debt,” says Nimmo.
Earlier this year, MacMerry300 was accused of “systemic mistreatment” of its staff, in a collective grievance signed by both current and former employees.
Unite the Union compiled a seven-page complaint released in January 2022 that included allegations that the company neglected to inform staff about potential close contacts with those testing positive for Covid-19; and that staff awaiting PCR test results were expected or felt pressured to come to work until their results were official.
At the time, a spokesperson for MacMerry 300 described the list of complaints as 'frankly bewildering'.
The complaint came just a month after the company announced it would open its first site in London as part of a period of growth. It opened an Abandon Ship in Covent Garden in early 2022 in the former pintxo restaurant PIX, its 14th venue at the time.
It had said it intended to open a further six Abandon Ships across the UK this year.
MacMerry 300 was set up in 2010 by McMenemy and Phil Donaldson. The first Abandon Ship Bar opened in Dundee in 2019 followed by Glasgow in autumn 2021.
“Our immediate priority will be to assist employees with their claims to the redundancy payments office, as well as safeguarding any remaining company assets and ascertaining from the director the circumstances under which the recent transfer of assets occurred and carrying out appropriate investigations,” says Interpath Advisory’s Jacobs.
