BBQ Factory placed into receivership

The BBQ Factory chain is now in receivership after a 'bad winter.' Photo / File

The BBQ Factory is in receivership.

Receiver Shaun Adams of accounting firm KPMG was appointed at around lunchtime today after a private, secured creditor called in a loan, which was understood to be under $5 million.

The business, which sells barbecues and woodburners and which was once owned by the listed investment company Hellaby Holdings, has had a troubled past.

Hellaby sold the business in 2008 but not before writing down the value of the BBQ Factory by $18.8 million.

The business is owned by Mark Flaherty, who was part of the BBQ Factory's management team when it was owned by Hellaby Holdings.

The BBQ Factory has eight stores, all of them in the North Island. The company's two largest stores are in Auckland.

Adams told APNZ that the company would probably not trade its way out of its difficulties.

He said it had been a bad winter for the BBQ Factory, which relies on sales of woodburners during the winter to tide it over until the summer barbeque season.

Around 30 to 40 part-time and full-time jobs are involved in the business.

The company's stores were closed today but its Auckland stores will reopen tomorrow for a period of time.

Adams said it had been an extremely difficult market for the company, which faced stiff competition from the likes of Mitre 10 and Bunnings Warehouse.

"It's an extremely competitive and difficult market, and you need a lot of capital to make it work at the end of the day," he said.