George Calombaris food empire was losing money for three years before going under
The food empire of celebrity chef George Calombaris was losing money for three years before it collapsed in February.
The full report by administrators KordaMentha showed Made Establishment was in the red to the tune of over $20 million before going belly up with just a few hundred in the bank.
The report shows the Hellenic Republic restaurants and Jimmy Grants souvlaki chain were the worst performing parts of the business. Hellenic Republic accrued losses of $5.5 million between July 2016 and January 2020, while the Jimmy Grants chain recorded losses of $2.7 million at the St Kilda outlet, $2.1 million at Eastland in Ringwood and $1.3 million at Ormond, according to financial figures.
The group’s expansion into Sydney was also a disaster with losses of $2.3 million across three Jimmy Grants outlets in Newtown, Bondi and Sydney Central between July 2017 and June 2019 before they were closed.
Companies relating to sole director Radek Sali had been desperately trying to keep things afloat as the company weathered a $7.8 million underpayment scandal, putting in 15 advances of $11.5 million. In the last six months Sali ploughed a further $2.5 million into the failing business.
"The group has not been profitable in the past three years or for the year-to-date period to January 2020," the report said. "Cumulative losses before tax over this period total $20.7 million."
Sheridan Randall, 11th March 2020
