Veeno Bars go into administration
Italian aperitivo-style wine chain and restaurant Veeno has gone into administration for the second time, it has been reported.
Veeno is the trading name of Vintage Corporation Ltd, which appointed administrators on 8 April, according to a notice published on the London Gazette website on Monday (April 13).
Veeno launched its first bar in Manchester in 2013 and raised more than £200,00 of equity funding through Crowdcube in 2014-2015, which was topped up with a Funding Tree loan of £150,000 to establish the next three stores. By 2016 it had added four more bars in Leeds, York and Liverpool and Nottingham. Although it had plans to scale up the business to around 80 locations across the UK, at its height it operated 12 company-owned wine bars along with five franchise wine cafes in major cities in the UK.
However, the bar’s co-founder and finance director Andrea Zecchino stepped down in 2018 and the rapid growth of the company was followed by the closure of the unprofitable Harrogate bar and its Norwich franchise (due to problems with the franchisee). Together, this prompted a strategic review of the estate, and administrator were appointed.
Nine of the restaurant sites were subsequently bought out of administration in a pre-pack administration deal by a consortium led by Rodrigue Trouillet, a former Walt Disney media and entertainment exec who had joined the company as commercial director and new business partner in November 2018.
The York site was closed in 2019, followed by the Liverpool site in January 2020.
Partner Content
At the time of the second administration, the chain consisted of five bars, in Bristol, Chester, Edinburgh, Leeds and Leicester. However the sites do not appear to be operating any longer, with consumers reporting that the Chester site has been shut since February.
Related news
IWSR: 2035 will be 'vastly different' for the global drinks sector
