A franchise of a Sydney burger chain has collapsed after a court ordered the venture to shut down after racking up tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
A franchise of a Sydney burger chain has collapsed after a court ordered the venture to shut down due to tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid electricity bills.
At the end of last month, the Victorian Supreme Court ordered Bass Hill Burger Pty Ltd into compulsory liquidation.
Bass Hill Burger Pty Ltd trades as Flip Burger Bass Hill, based in Sydney’s southwest, part of a fast food chain called Flipp Burgers.
Flipp has a number of restaurants across Sydney’s north and west, in Parramatta, North Sydney, Mt Druitt, Marsden Park, Auburn and Box Hill.
On the company’s main Instagram page the Bass Hill restaurant is still listed even though it has ceased all operations.
Robert Ditrich and Andrew Scott of accounting and restructuring firm PwC have been appointed as the liquidators.
News.com.au understands the liquidators are investigating the company’s assets, which appear to have been sold before the company went under.
Although the other franchises are still in operation, the Flipp Burgers website is down.
It’s unclear if this is related in any way to the recent liquidation of one of its stores.
The phone lines for the Bass Hill restaurant have been disconnected.
News.com.au contacted Flipp Burger’s head office for comment.
The Halal-certified burger chain was ordered to go into liquidation after failing to pay an electricity bill totalling $24,000.
News.com.au understands the business could not settle a debt with its energy provider Covau Energy, and the matter eventually landed in court.
“We are in the early stages of this liquidation and are currently seeking to determine the number of creditors and how much they may be owed,” a PwC spokesperson told news.com.au.
“Creditors should have received an initial report, if they haven’t they should contact us.”
So far liquidators have identified three creditors – the energy company and also the landlord and the tax office.
This is the second restaurant in as many weeks to go under due to unpaid debts to Covau Energy.
Last week, news.com.au reported on another Sydney restaurant, called Little Viet Kitchen, based in Manly in the city’s northern beaches, that was also ordered into liquidation.
The locally-run business failed to settle a debt of $21,034 to its energy provider Covau Energy, and the matter eventually landed in court.
The hospitality scene across Australia has been gutted in a post-pandemic world as the cost of living crisis rages, causing many cafes and restaurants to go bust.
As well as Flipp Burgers Bass Hill and Little Viet Kitchen going bust, two Hog’s Breath cafes in NSW also entered into liquidation last week.
Earlier this month, national restaurant chain Sushi Bay also collapsed, with its last remaining Sydney, Darwin and Canberra branches ordered to shut down, amid allegations that workers had been underpaid $650,000 over a number of years.
In March, a popular bar and burger joint in Melbourne’s inner city, The Beer & Burger Bar, went into voluntary liquidation owing around $500,000 to 10 unsecured creditors.
Also in March, Sydney’s Jellyfish Cafe, in the northern beaches, which specialised in seafood dishes and brunch favourites, went into liquidation after nearly two decades of operation.
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