Company behind Junk restaurants to restructure after accumulating hundreds-of-thousands in ATO debt

The director behind a popular Asian restaurant chain has called on the state government to provide more support for small businesses after accumulating hundreds-of-thousands in debt following the pandemic.

Junk Maroochydore, 2024.

The business owner behind a popular Asian restaurant chain has called on the state government to provide more support for small businesses after accumulating hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in debt following the pandemic.

The company, Yugo Canteen, which operates the Junk venues in Maroochydore and Sippy Downs, appointed Steven Staatz to restructure the company last week, an Australian Securities and Investments Commission notice stated.

Junk director Scott Hoskins said the company was in the process of restructuring to pay back a six-figure Australian Taxation Office debt that had accumulated over several years.

Mr Hoskins said the impact of the cost-of-living crisis had reduced the discretionary spending of customers to the Junk stores over the past two years, bringing revenue down by about 20 per cent.

“The last two years have been the most difficult years of my 12-year time in hospitality, the first thing to go when families have less money in their budget is eating out,” Mr Hoskins said.

Scott Hoskins says the state government needs to do more to support small businesses during the cost-of-living crisis.Picture: Patrick Woods

He said a rise in building material costs and labour had also placed significant pressure on the company’s finances.

“We’ve built a new restaurant in the last two years in Sippy Downs and we also had to refurbish our restaurant in Maroochydore,” Mr Hoskins said.

“Both of those projects came in several hundreds-of-thousands of dollars over-budget due to increased costs in the building industry, it cost us 30 per cent more at both sites.”

Asian restaurant, Junk, in Maroochydore.

With 45 staff members employed across both stores and 20 local suppliers, Mr Hoskins said he believed many other local cafes and restaurants were facing similar challenges.

“I don’t think I’m alone in this situation in the hospitality industry on the Sunshine Coast,” Mr Hoskins said.

While he applauded the ATO’s restructuring options available to small businesses, Mr Hoskins said he would like to see the state government do more to take the pressure off local hospitality venues.

“I think the state government’s laws around payroll tax penalise people for employing staff,” Mr Hoskins said.

“My payroll tax for the last 12 months was $50,000, when your revenue drops and electricity and utilities keep going up all of these taxes don’t reduce.”