Tootsies, the burger restaurant chain, appears to have got itself into a financial pickle, and has, as a result, been sold to Giraffe Concepts in yet another pre pack administration deal.
As usual, the headline benefit from the deal is that jobs have been saved (in this case 278), but that won't stop the ongoing complaints about the growing popularity of the pre pack. Unsecured trade creditors have been particularly vocal in their criticism of the "behind closed doors" nature of the pre pack rescue.
Even more interesting then to see that PWC's Turnaround Director Panel has recently stated in a report that pre packs may be "morally questionable" and "unacceptable".
The trouble is, how can they be stopped? By all accounts, the trouble with traditional "open" administrations in this current economic climate is that the breathing space companies need to continue trading while in administration (from banks, trade suppliers etc) is too difficult to secure. What PWC is saying is that the tide can not be turned away from the pre pack rescue of ailing concerns, but that wise heads in the IP profession should come up with better ways to make the process more transparent, so that trade creditors don't feel so hard done by.