Matthew Trim is the grandson of South Australian retail brand Trims founder Alf Trim and has a series of failed business ventures behind him

He was an heir to the former family-run Trims retail clan, a restaurateur and commercial real-estate agent, now bankrupt with multiple liquidated ventures.

Matthew and Olivia Trim moved into the restaurant business in 2008 setting up Trim Hospitality Group. Picture: Supplied

Adelaide retail heir Matthew Trim may have come from money, but his rise, decline and fall proves wealth is no guarantee in life and success in business is not a birthright.

Mr Trim’s recent declaration of bankruptcy is the latest in a line of awry business ventures dating back nearly 20 years.

So how did the third generation heir to an eponymous South Australian retail icon go from riches to rags?

Evidently, through a series of failed business ventures, convoluted liquidations and eventual bankruptcy.

The Heir:

Established by twins Alf and John Trim in 1937, generations of South Australians and blue collar workers bought their RM’s and Levi’s from the historic workwear outfitter Trims.

That came crashing down in May 2013 when the store plunged into administration owing more than $3.2 million to unsecured creditors and $580,000 in staff wages and entitlements – It is not suggested that Matthew was involved in the collapse of Trims.

Co-founder Alf Trim (front), Justin Trim (left), Russell Trim, Matthew Trim. Picture: Supplied.

The store was placed into liquidation the next month only to be bought by Justin Trim – Matthew’s brother and grandson of the company’s co-founder Alf – along with former operation and marketing manager Peta Thompson.

The business was moved to a new location, company records show Justin left in 2019, and Trims continues to trade successfully under Ms Thompson’s stewardship.

The Restaurateur:

Five years earlier, Matthew and his wife Olivia had moved into the restaurant business, setting up Trim Hospitality Group in 2008.

They invested in a string of ventures including Farina Kitchen and Bar, Sparrow Kitchen and Bar, The Banque, The Manse and The Queens Head.

But it was Grace The Establishment in Norwood, that would be the last remnant of Matthew’s restaurant empire.

It was claimed at the time that creditors were chasing Matthew over unpaid debts to suppliers along with unpaid superannuation.

His lawyer, John Tucker, said Matthew had payment plans with both the supplier, Vinosity, and with the Australian Taxation Office – to repay owed employee superannuation.

Trim shut The Establishment for renovations in early 2015, which never materialised, and the venue was taken over by The Bloody Mary Group later that year.

Matthew and Olivia Trim invested in a number of ventures including Farina Kitchen and Bar, Sparrow Kitchen and Bar, The Banque, The Manse, The Queens Head and Grace The Establishment.

Meanwhile in 2014, Matthew’s father Russell was being examined in the Federal Court over the movement of money and assets during and after the collapse of the Trims store.

Foreshadowing the closure of Grace The Establishment, it was alleged that Russell Trim propped up his son Matthew’s ailing restaurant ventures, while failing to pay creditors of the Trims retail business.

Matthew denied the allegation under oath, which came the day after his father told the court that he had obtained a $3.8 million loan with Matthew Trim’s wife three years earlier – in 2011 from BankSA.

Trim said he had not received any gifts or assets worth more than $1000 in the five years leading up to his father Russell’s February 2014 bankruptcy.

Documents later read out in court indicated that part of the $3.8 million was used to pay two loans in the name of Matthew and Olivia Trim, amounting to $796,000.

Matthew said he did not recall getting any of the money but there had been some “restructuring’’ of debts.

When asked whether his father had borrowed the $3.8 million to bail out some of his failed ventures, he replied: “Not that I recall’’.

Examiner Catherine Gobbo, however, said Bank SA records of loan restructuring offers to Matthew Trim, his father and his wife Olivia suggested otherwise.

“These were your debts, these were all your debts arising from your failed restaurants and your father was bailing you out,” she said.

“It’s the case that, had your father not entered into this restructuring arrangement in 2011, that he would not be bankrupt and you would be bankrupt.”

Mr Trim said that was “not correct” and that “we did not have a failing business”.

The Agent

Seemingly undeterred, the failed restaurateur reinvented himself as a commercial property agent, co-founding Commercial Adelaide Real Estate Group with business partner, Remo Russo, in 2019.

A year later Trim was back in court suing prominent landlords, the Ginos Group, for $1.65 million claiming they failed to pay him an agreed three per-cent commission for selling Adelaide’s Regent Arcade.

Remo Russo, co-founder of Commercial Adelaide Real Estate Group. Picture: Kirsty Burns

The Ginos Group argued in defence documents lodged with the Court that it was dealing with Commercial Adelaide director Remo Russo and that no contract with Mr Trim was ever enacted.

The two parties reached a settlement, the amount was undisclosed.

Three years later Commercial Adelaide fell into liquidation amid an investigation by SA Police after claims from former clients that more than half a million dollars worth of their deposits had gone missing.

Russo was believed to have transferred $55,000 from Commercial Adelaide’s trust account which he used to purchase a beach house at Port Willunga.

Liquidators secured $80,000 from Mr Russo as part of a settlement of their claims over the property sale.

Three generations of Trims worked at the retail store before it was placed into liquidation in May 2013. Picture: Supplied

After concluding that more than $480,000 was transferred to Matthew before the company’s collapse, liquidators are now seeking to bring Trim before the courts to ask where the money went and whether it can be recovered to repay creditors who have been left out of pocket.

That eventuality seems unlikely after Mr Trim was declared bankrupt in Melbourne’s Federal Circuit Court on October 3, over a $110,000 debt to the bankrupt estate of his father, Russell Trim.