Baker Tilly administrator appointed to Buddha Bar

An administrator from Baker Tilly has been appointed to celebrity haunt
Buddha Bar, the luxury restaurant and drinks establishment, which counts Lionel
Richie as one of its customers.

David Hudson, head of the London team of administrators at Baker Tilly, was
appointed earlier this week with the business that opened in August 2008 and has
ceased all trading on his appointment.

Hudson was forced to make 80 redundancies but is hopeful a buyer for the
assets can be sought.

Hudson said: “Naturally, high-quality entertainment venues have a high
start-up cost and, with Buddha Bar opening just before the beginning of the
recession in 2008, it compounded what was a difficult market for the business.”

The company is run as a franchise and has restaurants in Paris, New York, Las
Vegas, Sharm el Sheikh and Dubai.

Simon Halabi is one of the backers for the company, according to the
Evening
Standard. He filed for bankruptcy earlier this year with
Baker Tilly partner, Geoff Carton-Kelly appointed bankruptcy trustee.

Further reading:

Carton-Kelly
appointed trustee to former property tycoon

Hudson
leaves Begbies for Baker Tilly

Business
recovery special: recovery positions