Botswana Butchery owner Good Group Australia collapses with more than 200 jobs at risk

The parent company of several fine dining restaurants located in iconic Australian locations has collapsed with $23million of debt and more than 200 jobs at risk.

Good Group Australia, the owner of the high-end steak chain Botswana Butchery and several Asian venues, announced last month that it had entered voluntary administration.

The famous Botswana Butchery sold steaks for as high as $500 a piece across Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra restaurants.

Those three restaurants employ 200 staff, and all branches continue to operate.

However, three other major businesses under the group – White and Wong’s in Sydney’s Martin Place and Melbourne’s Chadstone, and Wong Baby in Melbourne’s Chapel St – have ceased trading.

A report sent to creditors this week, obtained by News.com.au, revealed the group owed some $23million with Andrew Sallway and Duncan Clubb, from BDO Australia, appointed to oversee its seven businesses.

Good Group owe $9.7million to Commonwealth Bank in secured debt and $4.5million to other creditors, including landlords, suppliers and its employees.

Its debt to landlords alone stands at $1.81million. The landlord of the company’s head office in Melbourne evicted the group over failure to pay rent.

The landlord is expected to recover some money through security bonds.

An additional $9.3million is owed in inter-company loans.

Good Group’s cumulative debt to staff is one of its biggest bills at $523,804 from unpaid annual leave and long service leave entitlements.

Workers are also owed $92,000 in unpaid superannuation.

Other companies linked to Good Group lent it $9.3million in related party loans.

The company also owes about $3.6million in taxes but administrators did not include that debt in the total amount as the Australian Tax Office has not yet lodged any proof of its debt claims.

The administrator’s report noted Good Group directors, who are all based in New Zealand, had failed to respond to their requests for information.

BDO Australia will seek to report the directors to the financial regulator, ASIC.

Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb believe the group has been unable to pay its debts since last September.

In terms of assets, the restaurants contained hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food and alcohol.

The Canberra Botswana Butchery, which only opened in January, had $19,327 worth of food and $67,236 worth of drinks

The value of goods at its Sydney and Melbourne restaurants was even higher.

The Melbourne steakhouse had $58,906 worth of food and $168,493 of drinks.

The Sydney restaurant had food estimated at around $28,701 during a stock take, while its alcohol products totalled $119,181.

However, Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb noted, ‘the majority of the food stock was perishable and therefore would be of very limited value in a liquidation scenario’.

While the Botswana Butchery restaurants are still open, they have racked up operating losses totaling $207,000.

Administrators recommended the group be placed into liquidation.

The report found, before their closure, White and Wongs and the Wong Baby Chapel were also operating at a loss since they opened with money from the New Zealand group keeping them afloat.

‘The venues have been unprofitable since their opening,’ the administrators said.

‘The group owes $9.3million in inter-company loans to New Zealand entities. The group has been reliant on the New Zealand entities to fund daily operations and trading losses.’

Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb determined the hospitality group’s launch in Australia was poorly times as it ‘coincided’ with the Covid pandemic.

The subsequent cost of living crisis sealed the group’s fate with its operating costs rising by 10 per cent each month.