Adelaide’s King’s Head hotel calls in liquidators due to coronavirus shutdown
One of Adelaide’s oldest and best-known pubs has called in liquidators, and there are fears the coronavirus shutdown could see many more suffer a similar fate.
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One of Adelaide’s oldest and best known pubs has failed to survive the coronavirus shutdown.
The King’s Head, which opened on King William St in the CBD in 1876, is one of the city’s first pubs to call in liquidators due to the severe trading restrictions put in place last month.
Publican Gareth Lewis has been a vocal critic of the Adelaide City Council’s response to the coronavirus shutdown, and is running for the vacant seat on council, on a platform of helping the hospitality industry to bounce back from current crisis.
Liquidator Daniel Lopresti from Clifton Hall expects other pub, hotel and hospitality venues to suffer a similar fate to the King’s Head as the shutdown continues.
“We’re working through the financial position of the business and the reasons for our appointment but trading restrictions have certainly been the major issue,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see more hospitality businesses out there really struggling, and whether we see an avalanche (of insolvencies), it depends on how long the restrictions are in place.
“The longer it goes the more difficult it will become.”
Mr Lopresti said it was too early to estimate how much local suppliers and other creditors were owed by the King’s Head, which served only South Australian beer, wine and food produce.
Three full-time staff are affected by the winding up of the business, while a number of casual staff had already been stood down due to the coronavirus shutdown.
Mr Lopresti said wage payments were up to date, while some leave entitlements remained outstanding.
Assets including equipment and furniture will be sold off as liquidators seek to recover funds for repayment to creditors.
“Usually we would try to sell the business as a going concern but in this case it’s very unlikely anyone out there is looking to buy a business given the uncertain environment out there,” Mr Lopresti said.
“Practically we will look to realise value for the assets and work with the landlord to do that.”
The King’s Head was once owned by the Vaughton family and son Brian was in iconic Adelaide band The Masters Apprentices, which played there regularly and had international success.
Mr Lewis is a director of local festival, music event and bar operator General Admission Entertainment, which has run the Adelaide UniBar, Adelaide Beer and BBQ Festival and dozens of music festivals including Parklife, Soundwave and Future Music Festival.
He is one of eight candidates vying for the Adelaide City Council’s central ward seat left vacant following the resignation of former deputy lord mayor Houssam Abiad in February.
Earlier this month Mr Lewis told The Advertiser he was running for council to support the hospitality industry post-coronavirus, while advocating for a “night mayor” and a permanent outdoor music bowl to host top music events.
“Given everything that has happened with (COVID-19) in the hospitality, events and retail industries, it is going to be more important than ever to have a voice on council for those people,” Mr Lewis said at the time.
On Tuesday, Mr Lewis labelled the council’s response to the coronavirus – including the offer of three months of free rent for small business tenants in council-owned buildings – as “tokenism at its best”, calling for more action to support small businesses in the city.
“The council must pull its weight as a tier of government and give hospitality and retail businesses across the board a 100 per cent forgiveness of current quarter rates immediately,” he posted on a Facebook page set up to promote his candidacy.
“No application process, no hoops to jump through, immediate!”
Mr Lewis has not returned calls from The Advertiser.