Staff wage payments ‘delayed’ at Coconut Tree group by ‘unforeseen costs’

Some staff wage payments at the Coconut Tree restaurant group have been “delayed” by “unforeseen costs to the business”, the company has said.

It was not confirmed how many staff had been affected or what the costs were however, a spokesperson said wages would be paid by Monday 12 June.

The BBC has reported that the group told its 200 employees that it could not pay their wages for May because it was struggling with the high cost of goods and had "exhausted all UK borrowing options".

A statement from the group said: “We apologise to those staff affected by delays to wages. These were caused by unforeseen costs to the business. The wages for the staff affected will be paid by Monday 12 June.”

The Sri Lankan restaurant group operates nine sites across the UK. The concept was founded by seven Sri Lankan friends living in the UK, including Rodrigo Rashinthe, Mithra Fernando, Praveen Thanginah, Dan Fernando and Shamil Fernando, who opened the first Coconut Tree restaurant in Cheltenham in 2016.

The restaurants serve tapas-style Sri Lankan street food and cocktails, including hoppers, coconut sambal, chicken kotthu and hot battered spicy cuttlefish.