Regent Inns owes creditors £4.05m

Trade creditors of Regent Inns, which was restructured via a pre-pack administration in October, are owed £4.05m, according to documents filed by administrator BDO Stoy Hayward.

The figure is, however, understood to be misleading overall, as 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 comedians who performed at its comedy clubs, for example, were paid in full."

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 Quincy's restaurant in Bristol.

A further 12 sites returned to Punch, including nine Old Orleans. It agreed to take back the sites immediately rather than facing the prospect of inheriting shut sites later — 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.

Jongleurs to become Highlights​

Intertain is to rebrand the 10 former Jongleurs comedy clubs under the name Highlights this month.

The new entertainment venues will feature stand-up comedy under the Famous for Comedy banner, as well as live music, cabaret and films.

The move comes as control of the Jongleurs brand reverts to its founder Maria Kempinska.

John Leslie, Intertain's chief executive, said: "By focusing on entertainment we aim to create a clear divide between Intertain venues and other operators on the high street. We want to give people new reasons to get off their sofas and into venues.

"Comedy will remain our main focus, but the versatility of Highlights will enable us to host all genres of entertainment."