Balls Brothers in administration

Published: 29 November, 2010

Balls Brothers, the 19-strong London wine bar and restaurant group, has gone into adminstration.

Balls Brothers, the 19-strong London wine bar and restaurant group, has gone into adminstration.

Zolfo Cooper has been appointed joint administrators of Balls Brothers and Lewis & Clarke, which it bought in 2006.

The firm also ran a wine merchant division supplying restaurant, corporate and private clients. There are currently 332 members of staff.

Following a period of cash flow difficulties and testing trading conditions linked to the cuts across the City's financial institutions, the group was unable to secure further investment.

Zolfo Cooper will continue to trade the firm, with the aim of securing a sale of the business as a going concern.

Nick Cropper of Zolfo Cooper, said: "The Balls Brothers business has been an established name for over 50 years and is extremely well known across the London leisure and dining sector. The company has a great heritage and enjoys a lasting reputation due to its high standards in service, food and wine, and is sure to generate significant interest."

The group, which is said to owe around £7 million to Barclays, recently appointed Miroma Leisure's Richard Littman as chief operating officer.

Last week owner and chairman Richard Balls denied reports the group was in crisis talks with bankers. "We are a privately-owned business and how we finance ourselves is not necessarily for public knowledge," he said.

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