Regent Inns debts revealed by administrator

Trade creditors of Regent Inns, which was re-structured via a pre-pack administration in October, are owed £4,045,268, according to documents filed by administrator BDO Stoy Hayward.

The figure is, however, understood to be misleading overall, because a number of key outstanding claims against Regent have been settled by Intertain, the company that emerged from the administration to run 60 out of 80 of Regent's former sites.

It is thought that a number of Regent's key suppliers have, in fact, been paid.

One source told the Morning Advertiser​: "The newco has paid a lot of those creditors as part of establishing new commercial supply terms — all the comedians who performed at its comedy clubs, for example, were paid in full for their services." 

Among those who are out-of-pocket are, for example, landlords of the 20 sites left in administration.

Regent's former banks, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, lowered debt in the business by about £30m as they swapped debt for equity.

Intertain is led by Regent chief executive John Leslie with Simon Kaye as chief operating officer, Mike Foster as finance director plus Mike Dowell, the former managing director of Pitcher & Piano, in the new role of business development director.

The pre-pack administration saw a clutch of bars left with the administrators, including three Walkabouts, five Jongleurs and a restaurant called Quincy's in Bristol.

A further 12 sites have been returned to Punch, including nine Old Orleans. Punch agreed to take back the sites immediately rather than facing the prospect of inheriting shut sites further down the line — possibly well into the new year.

Punch has agreed to de-brand the Old Orleans sites, converting to other formats in less than 12 months.