The group behind under-administration Botswana Butchery restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra owes creditors $4.5 million, according to a report dissecting one of the largest hospitality shake-outs of 2024.

The financial stakes of the restaurant industry are laid bare in a report to creditors by the administrators. Details include unpaid “taxation accounts” across the group totalling $3.52 million; employee entitlements exceeding $500,000; and creditor debts including $1.81 million in unpaid rent, although the administrators note that will be partially offset by security bonds.

The New Zealand-owned steakhouse entered voluntary administration in early April with the appointment of administrators Duncan Clubb and Andrew Sallway, from accounting firm BDO. The latest report to creditors – which also details $9.7 million in secured debt to the bank and $9 million in inter-company loans – is sombre reading for an industry under siege from higher operating costs and flatter consumer spending.

The administrator’s report said the group was “likely insolvent” from last September.

The Botswana Butchery restaurants continue to trade under the eye of Clubb and Sallway, who declined to offer further comment. But the administrators’ recommendation is that “it would be in the best interests of creditors” to wind the companies up.

With a creditors’ meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, at the time of writing administrators were yet to receive a completed deed of company arrangement from its directors or shareholders offering an alternate path.

The high stakes of restaurant investment is also highlighted. While there is value for creditors in the group’s wine cellars, research by administrators found the cost of removal of kitchen equipment had considerable depreciation attached.

Parent hospitality group Good Group’s arrival in Australia appeared to be well timed, opening during the post-pandemic dining boom. Botswana Sydney opened on prime turf at 25 Martin Place in December 2021, luring seasoned Sydney chefs. Melbourne followed in 2022 and Canberra earlier this year.

Good Group also opened sibling restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, White + Wongs, with some users on social media querying the name’s appropriateness.

White + Wongs had even bigger problems behind the scenes. Both outlets had been unprofitable since opening. White + Wongs and its Melbourne spin-off Wong Baby Chapel ceased to trade before BDO’s appointment. The Sydney branch closed last month.

Financial reports suggest there had been some reasons for optimism. Botswana Butchery in both Sydney and Melbourne reported profits during their short trading history. But the economic downturn and wider group issues seemingly put a strain on the business.

What is still unclear is where the owners of Good Group believe they went wrong. According to the report, the directors of the companies have as yet failed to provide administrators with their opinion of the “reasons for the companies’ failure”.

In New Zealand, Good Group’s operations are not affected.