Warriors bar’s former incarnation, Holy Hop bar, owes more than $170k to Inland Revenue

The former owner of Holy Hop is in liquidation, owing the IRD $172,436.67 and unsecured creditors $143,454.63. The site of the bar and eatery has since been taken over by an entity associated with the NRL's Warriors. Photo / Babiche Martens

The previous owner of a bar and eatery now owned by NRL franchise the Warriors owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Inland Revenue Department.

Holy Hop Op Limited, which traded as Holy Hop - a garden bar and eatery in Auckland’s Kingsland - was placed into liquidation on March 21 at the behest of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue over unpaid tax obligations.

The Herald reported on March 16 that the Warriors - through owners Autex - had purchased the site of Holy Hop as the location of their themed pub.

The venture, which will see the pub be fully refurnished and refit, is to cost close to $10 million.

According to the Companies Register, Kyle David Anderson and Philip James Clark are directors of Holy Hop Op Limited.

An initial liquidator’s report shows the company owes the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) $172,436.67 and unsecured creditors $143,454.63.

The figure on unsecured creditors only includes those who have made a claim so far.

According to the liquidator’s report, it appears secured creditors and employees have already been paid by the company from the proceeds of the sale - which took place prior to liquidation.

The liquidator has received the remaining funds from the proceeds of the sale of Holy Hop, it said.

Estimated proceeds of sale totalled $111,223.33.

The company also has a book debt of $3,220.00, which the liquidator will investigate and seek recovery of.

Related entities Sawmill Holdings Limited, Pitt Street Holdings Limited, Speakeasy Holdings Limited, Allwyn Holdings Limited and SuiteBox Limited are also all in liquidation.

Four companies owe IRD $1.7 million

Craig David Anderson is the sole director of four of the companies - Sawmill, Pitt Street, Speakeasy and Allwyn.

All four are in liquidation over unpaid taxes, owing a combined more than $1.7m to the IRD.

More than $1.5m is owed to unsecured creditors across the four entities.

According to the liquidator’s reports, attempts have been made by liquidators to reach Anderson, who is understood to be overseas.

Sawmill Holdings Limited operated Leigh Sawmill Café, which was sold and taken over before the company went into liquidation on March 8.

The café is about an hour north of Auckland.

Employee claims total $12,923.00, with $273,522.36 owing to the IRD and $216,643.88 to unsecured creditors.

The café's website says “as of December 2023, the Leigh Sawmill Cafe is run by the original Guinness management once again”.

As of December 2023, the Leigh Sawmill Cafe is run by the original Guinness management again.

Pitt Street Holdings had been trading as a bar and restaurant under the name Pitt St Pub in Auckland Central, which is understood to have ceased trading, the liquidator said.

Attempts by the Herald to contact the pub were met by a failed call. The company went into liquidation on March 21.

Employee and IRD claims had yet to be filed/or received.

Speakeasy Holdings owned restaurant Cotto, which traded from a leased premise on Auckland’s popular Karangahape Road.

It went into liquidation on March 21.

The company is also involved in proceedings before the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) following a claim by a former employee prior to liquidation. No judgment can be found on the ERA website yet.

Cotto reopened under new name

Cotto is understood to have closed before the liquidation, however, it has since reopened under the name Otto.

The liquidator said it was unclear whether the owners had acquired the assets of Speakeasy Holdings and were making inquiries on the matter.

Employee claims had yet to be filed/or received by the liquidator. The IRD is owed $319,599.81, while unsecured creditors are owed $106,008.21.

Cotto at 375 Karangahape Rd closed at the end of last year according to former staff members and has since reopened under the name Otto. Photo / Fiona Goodall

Another liquidator’s report said Allwyn Holdings was a bar and restaurant business which had ceased trading, before going into liquidation on March 21.

The liquidator said the company may have been used to provide employees to the various related companies.

Employee claims had yet to be filed/or received by the liquidator, but the IRD is owed more than $1.2m and unsecured creditors are owed more than $1.3m.

SuiteBox IT software developer

SuiteBox Limited was tipped into liquidation by a special resolution of the shareholders over financial concerns.

Anderson is a shareholder in that company. The sole director is Craig Alexander Meek.

That company went into liquidation in July 2023. The company was established to carry out the business of information technology software development.

Paul Manning of BDO Tauranga and Thomas Rodewald of Rodewald Consulting were appointed as joint liquidators.

An updated statement of affairs appearing in the liquidator’s second, or six-monthly, report said a total of $4,626,966.00 had been received in unsecured creditor claims.

The IRD was owed $8,982 via a small business loan.

No secured creditor or preferential creditor claims had been received.

The amount claimed is subject to various claims and counterclaims between SuiteBox Limited and several others.

This amount includes claims from Icon UK Limited of $3,503,026.05 and Wearne Webber Capital of $1,105,066.00, which are strongly disputed by the director of SuiteBox Limited. The matter is still to be resolved as part of the liquidation process.

Going out of business

The number of liquidations has been rising lately amid tough trading conditions and more proactive debt work by the IRD.

According to Companies Office records, there were 489 liquidator appointments in the first three months of 2024, a 28 per cent increase on the same period last year (382) and 58.2 per cent higher than in 2022 (309).

In March alone, there were 236 liquidations - the highest month since March 2018 (238).

Inland Revenue customer segment leader Richard Philp told the Herald earlier this week it was doing more proactive debt work following the pandemic years.

“The more we do, the more likely we will see higher levels of bankruptcy and liquidations because some businesses are simply not viable and are unable to meet current liabilities, plus deal with historical liabilities,” Philp said.

“For those who choose not to pay or cannot pay, Inland Revenue uses the bankruptcy and liquidation process as a last resort to physically stop businesses from further trading by asking the High Court of New Zealand to appoint a liquidator or the Official Assignee to take control of the business and wind it down.”