Seafood restaurant Lobster Cave at risk of closure as businesses linked to hospitality boss collapse owing more than $11 million
A famous seafood restaurant is at risk of closure while the boss has been linked to several other massive business collapses.
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The boss of a renowned fine dining restaurant is linked to several food-related businesses which have quietly collapsed with debts of more than $11 million — and now his famed eatery is also at risk of closure.
Melbourne’s lavish Lobster Cave is no stranger to making headlines. In 2017, a Liberal politician was seen having dinner with an alleged Melbourne mafia boss in an incident jokingly dubbed “lobster with a mobster”.
And in May, an elderly driver accidentally drove through the restaurant full of unsuspecting diners, causing them to dive for cover. Luckily a table of 10 right near the wall of the crash had vacated just before it happened.
The restaurant’s signature dish is its ‘Fergburger’ named after its director and executive chef, Vasilios Fergadiotis, who goes by Bill Ferg.
The hospitality head honcho is now finding himself at the centre of another story after he took over a number of food wholesalers earlier this year – one of which has been in business for nearly 100 years – which have all gone bust in recent months with millions of dollars of debt.
And another of Mr Ferg’s businesses was in court last Wednesday because a creditor is trying to force it into liquidation to recover what they claim is a $897,000 debt.
His flagship restaurant could also be at risk of collapse. Three days ago, a loan company issued a winding up notice against Lob Nominees Pty Ltd, which has a business name of Lobster Cave.
“We are limited in what we can say at this time because of litigation and negotiation matters, as we deal with the challenges,” Mr Ferg told news.com.au.
Flexicommercial lodged winding up proceedings against Mr Ferg’s lobster business last week, according to an ASIC notice.
The hearing is due to take place later this month at the NSW Supreme Court, on September 16.
Flexicommercial is a subsidiary of humm Group Limited, an Australian fintech which offers credit, commercial lending and buy now pay later services among others, which could indicate what the debt is about.
Mr Ferg is also the sole director of Extramile Trading, which went into liquidation earlier this year with debts of $8.6 million.
Extramile operated as a wholesaler of dairy, meat and seafood to the hospitality and food service industry.
There are 64 unsecured creditors owed $7.225 million, according to a statutory report the appointed liquidator, Stephen Dixon of insolvency Hamilton Murphy, submitted to the corporate regulator last month.
Extramile operated from the Melbourne suburb of Braeside and had five employees. The business has since closed down.
Mr Ferg had been its director since its inception in 2017. Creditors aren’t expected to recover any of their lost money.
Extramile failed after a major supplier withdrew credit support as well as cash flow strain brought on from the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, according to the liquidator.
His other related businesses in the wholesale sector fell in quick succession for the same reasons. Mr Dixon has been as the liquidator and administrator to all these related companies.
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Green Earth Industries, a wholesale distributor of dairy and vegetable products, went bust with debts of $856,000.
It mostly sold butter, cheese and vegetables, with the company acting as a broker between the original supplier and major manufacturing customers.
Green Earth had been around since 2003 and Mr Ferg was made its director in February this year. In late May, the company went under.
It was headquartered in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern with eight staff who are now out of work.
One of its creditors is Fonterra Brands — the company behind Bega cheese, Perfect Italiano cheese, and Western Star butter.
Indeed, the appointed liquidator, Mr Dixon, noted that Bega Cheese Limited itself was owed $493,000 as the largest creditor.
There was just $121 left in the bank account of Green Earth when the liquidator took over.
Mr Ferg was also recently made the sole director of Marsh Dairy Products, a business originally founded in the 1930s specialising in the distribution and packaging of dairy products.
In March, Mr Ferg became its director. Including him, this dairy business has 10 staff.
Marsh Dairy is now in administration with debts of about $2.5 million but continues to operate.
Of that, unsecured creditors are owed $1.9 million. Bega Cheese is once again money, coming in at $232,634.
“Since the date of my appointment, I have continued to trade the business,” Mr Dixon, the liquidator, said.
According to a report he submitted at the end of July, he has managed to sell some assets of the company to get back a small return for creditors of $273,000.
“An offer for the purchase of the company’s business and assets has been accepted and I am currently working with the purchaser to finalise the sale,” he wrote.
Earlier this week, the holding company of these businesses, Just Foods International, landed in the Victorian Supreme Court over a dispute about Mr Ferg’s takeover of the businesses.
The applicant, Jesus Jimenez, claimed in court documents he is owed $897,000 because of a deed struck with all the companies and Mr Ferg for a transfer of shares and options. He was the previous director of Green Earth Industries.
The case was adjourned until September 18.
The week starting September 16 will be a busy one for Mr Ferg, with the fate of two of his businesses being decided in two separate courts across state lines.
alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au
Originally published as Seafood restaurant Lobster Cave at risk of closure as businesses linked to hospitality boss collapse owing more than $11 million
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