MacMerry 300 was established in 2010, and owns bars across Dundee and Glasgow, most notably Abandon Ship, which hit the news last year due to accusations of ‘systemic mistreatment’ from staff.
These included alleged pay and contract issues, including staff not being paid sick or holiday pay; lack of communication over sick and/or holiday pay; inconsistences with tax and not being paid full wages for shifts at other venues.
The future of the business was uncertain, after HMRC applied to have the company wound up.
But now, Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs from Interpath Advisory have been appointed joint liquidators.
The business has been wound up due to the financial pressures and subsequent losses caused by the covid-19 pandemic, a statement from the liquidators said.
Speaking to The Courier, Mr Nimmo, chief executive of Interpath Advisory and joint liquidator, said: “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.”
When it comes to staff, Mr Jacobs said the focus would be to assist employees with redundancy claims, saying they would be: “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”.
Bryan Simpson, of Unite Hospitality, said to Glasgow Live: "Unite members across Macmerry and Abandon Ship were shocked to be told by the (Daily) Record that their employer may potentially go into liquidation, putting their jobs put at risk.
"We've since secured assurances from the director that everything that can be done to ensure 'absolutely everyone keeps their positions' is being done.
"Whatever happens to these companies, we are doing everything we can to ensure that every job is retained and that our members' terms and conditions are protected."
Earlier this year, Richard Davies announced that he was stepping down as a director of Abandon Ship with immediate effect.
Davies was one of the people involved in running Abandon Ship and MacMerry 300, which have bars across Glasgow including the namesake Abandon Ship in the city centre and Fly South in the west end.
