La Bécasse creditors set for ‘liquidator' meeting
The creditors of Ludlow restaurant La Bécasse, part of the 10 in 8 Group Ltd, are set to convene for a meeting to discuss the potential appointment of liquidators.
The meeting is to take place at the offices of Frost Group, insolvency practitioner, on the Purley Way near Croydon, Surrey on 8 May.
The news came as Alan Murchison (pictured), the last of the directors of the 10 in 8 Group, of which La Bécasse is a subsidiary, resigned.
He was named as a director of the business alongside Richard Pursey and Timothy Allaston in the company's last Annual Return, dated November 2013. But Allaston resigned in that same month, while Pursey terminated his directorship at the end of January this year. Murchison resigned his post on 1 April.
It is not now clear who is running the business. In an announcement posted in the London Gazette, the notice to creditors of La Bécasse said: "Resolutions to be taken at the meeting may include a resolution specifying the terms on which the Joint Liquidators are to be remunerated and the meeting may receive information about or be called upon to approve the costs of preparing the Statement of Affairs and convening of the meeting."
Murchison is currently executive chef at L'Ortolan in Reading, Berkshire, which is now operated by Newfee Ltd. It was also previously part of 10 in 8 Group, having been operated by subsidiary Alan Murchison Restaurants, but that company entered liquidation late last year.
Meanwhile, Paris House, also once part of the 10 in 8 Group, entered liquidation owing more than £400,000 to creditors in January this year, and was subsequently sold to head chef Phil Fanning.
10 in 8 now has just one restaurant, La Bécasse, which recently lost head chef Will Holland.
While 10 in 8 previously operated the Angel in Dartmouth, it closed the door of the landmark restaurant in March 2013. Clive Jacobs, owner of the freehold of the building, put the restaurant up for sale that same month. Following a sale last month by Christie + Co, the freehold for the property has been acquired by Devon property investor and restaurant owner John Holland.
Neither Alan Murchison nor anyone from La Bécasse was available to comment.
