Johnny Eddings and Oli Frost-linked GC venues granted reprieve as liquidation proposed over $2.2m debt
A pair of Gold Coast hospitality businessmen have received a temporary stay of the administration of companies linked to them after it was recommended they be liquidated, with debts totalling $2.2m.
Gold Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Gold Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A pair of Gold Coast hospitality businessmen have received a temporary stay of the administration of companies linked to them after it was recommended they be liquidated, with debts totalling $2.2m.
Entrepreneurs and business partners Oliver Fines-Frost (known as Oli Frost) and Johnny Eddings applied to the Supreme Court earlier this month to terminate the external administration of four companies linked to them – Milky Lane burger bar in Surfers Paradise, Lucia Tapas Garden in Tugun, plus Naami and Maman Bar and Kitchen in Burleigh Heads.
After a brief hearing in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, the matter was adjourned to August 19 and a temporary stay on the administration was granted.
The restaurants and bars were plunged into administration in June over a disputed $1.45m debt, allegedly owed to DN Holdings Pty Ltd, a company owned and directed by South Australian entrepreneur and influencer David Nicholas.
Mr Nicholas lodged a separate debt recovery claim against the pair and their companies in September 2024.
They are defending the claim.
Mr Eddings is the sole director of all four companies, with Mr Fines-Frost, also known as Oli Frost, the sole shareholder of Maman Bar and Kitchen GC Pty Ltd.
The pair have an equal share in the other three businesses – Milky Lane Goldcoast Pty Ltd, Naami Pty Ltd, and Lucia Tapas Garden Pty Ltd.
Hall Chadwick administrators Richard Albarran, Kathleen Vouris, and John Vouris in their statutory report filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission recommended the companies be placed in liquidation.
In the event of all four companies being placed in liquidation, the administrators said there would be insufficient assets to provide any dividend to any creditor, despite owing a combined $2.2m, according to the report.
The venues continue to trade.
The report said administrators attempted to “liaise” with Mr Eddings over the venues’ continued trading after their appointment.
“(Mr Eddings) advised that the companies had ceased trading upon our appointment,
with all assets of the companies having been transferred to a separate entity not under the
administrators’ control,” the report said.
“(Mr Eddings) advised via email that ‘all business assets were purchased by a separate
corporate entity and are not owned by the companies’.
“We will investigate this matter further in the liquidation of the companies.”
The administrators in their report said preliminary investigations had identified a number of offences that “may have been committed by the director of the companies” – being failure to exercise reasonable care and diligence in discharge of director’s duties, director’s duty to prevent insolvent trading by company, inadequate books and records, reckless or intentional dishonesty and failure to exercise duties in good faith and/or to gain an advantage, among others.
No action has been taken by the corporate regulator and the directors are not charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
The report claimed all four companies might have been trading insolvent since June 2024.
“Our preliminary investigations have identified that the companies may have traded whilst insolvent from as early as June 2024 and the estimated quantum of insolvent trading may be at least $259,511 for all entities,” the report said.
“This amount is subject to change following the receipt of further records and claims made by creditors, particularly noting the companies’ aged payables (unpaid invoices) record liabilities in the total amount of $1,191,395.”
The administrators said further investigations would be needed in a liquidation to determine the precise date of insolvency and the quantum of any insolvent trading claim.
Picking up the paper trail
Despite being appointed to the companies in mid-June, the administrators reported Mr Eddings was yet to respond to their request for the companies’ books and records.
Administrators said the companies’ external accountant provided them with the records in their possession, “the majority of which are dated no further than December 31, 2024”.
Mr Eddings is also yet to provide a report on the companies’ affairs, as requested by the administrators.
“Based on our review of the books and records identified to date, it appears the companies have failed to maintain adequate books and records to comply with Section 286 of the Act,” the administrators wrote.
“In providing this opinion we note that an audit has not been completed.”
Financial statements from the companies’ accountant show the businesses all traded at a loss for the 2023/24 financial year, while just Milky Lane and Maman were trading at a loss at the date of appointment in June.
“Majority of the companies have recorded continuing losses for at least two of the above
periods,” the report said.
“We note Lucia and Naami recorded a profit on the date of our appointment, however our
review of these companies’ financial position suggests this may be inaccurate.”
The companies’ balance sheets recorded outstanding debts owed to the companies of $62,564 and cash at bank totalling $269,981.
Instead, the administrators found there was just $5620 held in four Westpac bank accounts.
Also on the companies’ records was $40,000 worth of stock – but administrators said they had been unable to access the venues due to the leases being held by separate companies and “therefore have been unable to assess any stock on hand”.
It was a similar situation for the companies’ property, plant, and equipment.
Administrators also found a total of $371,736 in amounts payable to the four companies, and are in the process of identifying the parties and issuing letters of demand.
The report also identified related party loans of more than $100,000 to Emily Eddings and $11,549 to Johnny Eddings.
Letters of demand have been issued, but administrators said they were yet to receive a response.
Administrators also said they had “preliminarily qualified” outstanding superannuation owed to employees across all four companies at $59,642 and there were no records relating to outstanding employee entitlements within the companies’ accounting software at the date of appointment.
Of the $1.191m listed in the companies’ financials as being owed to unsecured creditors, $723,000 was owed to the ATO, the report said.
The companies had entered into payment plans with the ATO between November 2024 and March 2025, but subsequently defaulted in June or July – or as in the case of Maman, was cancelled on June 28, 2025.
The report also identified that Lucia Tapas Garden and Maman had been placed on cash on delivery terms with a supplier due to non-payment.
The ATO is also missing, for all four companies, activity statements for the quarter ending June 30, 2025, and income tax returns and single touch payroll finalisation declarations for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.
“The total amount of claims may increase due to further claims being received from creditors as well as the preparation and/or lodgement of the companies’ outstanding tax returns/activity statements,” the report said.
“Our review of the management accounts indicates the failure of the companies may be attributed to trading losses and inadequate cashflow/high cashflow use.
“Given the lack of books and records presently available and the director’s lack of co-operation to date, we are unable to comment further at this time and further investigations will be undertaken in the liquidations in this regard.”
A second meeting of creditors to vote on the future of the company that had been set down for July 28 has been adjourned until after the next court hearing date for Mr Eddings and Mr Frost’s application, which is due to take place on August 19.
It is the third time since December 2021 that a trading entity behind Milky Lane has gone into external administration.
All four businesses previously entered liquidation in 2023 but continued trading through entities which are now being administered by Mr Vouris and his colleagues.
Milky Lane’s liquor licence has been transferred to Australian Marts Pty Ltd, a company directed by 21-year-old Youssef Alhassan and which listed its principal place of business as 106-108 Glasson St in the Western Downs town of Chinchilla.
Mr Frost and Mr Eddings were contacted for comment through their lawyer, Jarred Winterkorn.
Mr Winterkorn previously told the Bulletin the basis of the application to terminate the administration was an “apparent absence of independence of the administrators” and that “the administration is an abuse of process”.
More Coverage
Originally published as Johnny Eddings and Oli Frost-linked GC venues granted reprieve as liquidation proposed over $2.2m debt
Zookeepers, receptionists: Meet the Gold Coast’s newest coppers
They’re a diverse bunch all with their own backstories and former careers, but these eight new Gold Coast first year constables are united by one thing: a desire to serve. Here’s your opportunity to meet some of them.
‘Pathological’: Serial GC fraudster plunders yet another employer
A convicted fraudster who served hard time for swindling $1.3m managed to land a gig as a HR manager at Molendinar after his release. It did not end well for his new employer.
Mayor’s beach bar dream: ‘A surf, get a thirst, then a XXXX Gold’
Mayor Tom Tate says the Gold Coast will win the race to get Queensland’s first beach bar, telling ‘pale-faced’ opponents to ‘go back to the mountains’. Read where he expects it to be built – and when.
Possible street race link in M1 crash that forced woman into labour
A horror two-car smash on the M1 at Bilinga, which resulted in a heavily pregnant women being cut from her vehicle and induced into early labour, may have been caused by an illegal street race, cops believe. FULL DETAILS
Revealed: How Brisbane’s trash will become Gold Coast’s treasure
The Gold Coast has positioned itself as southeast Queensland’s recycling leader with a $90m purchase, marking the first step in a $1.6bn waste revolution. FULL DETAILS
‘Why is nobody talking about this’: Cops address GC serial killer conspiracy
Four sudden deaths in five days on the Gold Coast earlier this month sent the internet into overdrive – now, local police are getting on the front foot. Here’s what we know so far about the cases.