Bakery business leaves six-figure debt trail when popular bagel shop closed down

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A bakery business left a six-figure trail of debt when it shut down a popular bagel shop.Owner Ian Brooke, 44, blamed rising costs, changes in customer spending and technical issues for the closure of takeaway Brawsome Bagels, in Glasgow’s west end.Customers paid up to £8.65 a time for bagels with fillings ranging from cheese steak to hash browns at the shop in Partick.Brooke’s firm – Southside Bagels – has left a mountain of debts to investors, banks and HMRC.Documents show it went into liquidation in May owing £177,113.

Those listed as creditors include four investors who put a combined total of about £60,000 into the business.Individual sums owed range from £5000 to £35,000.Other creditors include HMRC, who are due about £24,000.

Royal Bank of Scotland and a firm which provides card payment services are each owed more than £16,000. A business services company is due £12,400.A report also lists Brooke as a creditor and says he is owed £32,699 while a family member is due £5000.Despite Southside Bagels going under, Brooke’s bakery remains open – under a different company, BBHQ Ltd, which was formed in January.Insolvency experts Begbies Traynor have been assessing Southside Bagels’ assets to see how much money can be recovered for creditors.

Assets are believed to include fixtures, fittings and machinery.At the time of going into liquidation, Brooke was a sole director and ultimately in control of both Southside Bagels and BBHQ.