Dark Star leisure business collapses

Published on Monday 29 June 2009 21:44

DARK Star, the leisure management business part-owned by the entrepreneur behind the collapsed McKever Group of hotels, has gone into administration.

A subsidiary of the McKever Group, the firm, which manages a number of hotel and bar businesses, has fallen into the hands of administrator Tenon, putting 280 jobs at risk.

Dark Star's administration is the latest blow for Glasgow-based tycoon Ally McKever, who last week admitted he had lost 30 million of his own money through the collapse of his hotels business.

McKever had a 51 per cent shareholding in Dark Star, while brewer Scottish & Newcastle was understood to have a 9 per cent stake. The rest of the business was split between operations director Euan Bain and shareholder Billy McLaughlin.

McKever added that he had also put "a significant amount" of his own money into the Dark Star business in a bid to keep it afloat, adding that his banks – HBOS and Anglo Irish – had put pressure on him to put the company into administration.

He explained: "We were struggling to meet payments because we had put a lot of money into redeveloping the sites."

McKever said the company had recently spent 500,000 on developing the Collective hotel and bar in Dunfermline. He added: "It all just caught up with us again."

He continued: "This is another terribly sad day for all concerned. My colleagues and I are working with the administrator to secure the best outcome for both staff and creditors."

Joint administrator Kenny Craig pledged that it was "business as usual" for Dark Star, adding that there would be no immediate redundancies.

He said: "Dark Star has a portfolio of high quality bars, restaurants and hotels in good locations that are well-known in their local communities.

"While not immune from the recent economic downturn, the units were performing relatively well and we are confident the business will appeal to companies operating in the licensed trade, or to entrepreneurs keen to enter the sector.

"It is therefore very much business as usual while we focus on finding a buyer or buyers as soon as possible."

The Glasgow-based company operates a chain of 14 leased premises with the majority located in the west of Scotland, including the Bar Budda chain. The business also includes four hotels in Aberdeen, Ayr and Dunfermline.

The majority of the McKever Group went into administration with BDO Stoy Hayward last week. The group, which owns about 20 hotels and guest houses, mainly in Scotland, had debts of 70m – owed to both McKever himself and HM Revenues and Customs.