Botswana Butchery owner Good Group Australia collapses with more than 200 jobs at risk

The parent company of several fine dining restaurants in iconic Australian locations has gone bankrupt, with $23 million in debt and more than 200 jobs at risk.

Good Group Australia, which owns luxury steak chain Botswana Butchery and several Asian locations, announced last month that it had gone into voluntary administration.

The famous Botswana Butchery sold steaks for as much as $500 each in restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

These three restaurants employ 200 employees and all locations remain active.

However, three other major businesses under the group – White and Wong’s in Sydney’s Martin Place and Melbourne’s Chadstone, and Wong Baby in Melbourne’s Chapel St – have ceased operations.

A report obtained by News.com.au and sent to creditors this week found the group owed about $23 million to Andrew Sallway and Duncan Clubb, of BDO Australia, appointed to oversee the seven businesses.

Good Group owes $9.7 million to the Commonwealth Bank in secured debts and $4.5 million to other creditors, including landlords, suppliers and its employees.

The debt owed to landlords alone amounts to $1.81 million. The landlord of the company’s Melbourne headquarters has evicted the group for failing to pay rent.

The landlord is expected to get part of the money back through sureties.

Another $9.3 million is owed on intercompany loans.

Good Group’s cumulative debt to staff is one of the largest in unpaid holiday leave and long service leave entitlements at $523,804.

Employees also owe $92,000 in unpaid pension.

Other companies associated with Good Group lent it $9.3 million in related party loans.

The company also owes about $3.6 million in taxes, but administrators have not included that debt in the total figure as the Australian Taxation Office has not yet submitted any proof of its debt claims.

The famous Botswana Butchery sold steaks for as much as $500 each in restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra

The administrator’s report noted that Good Group’s directors, all of whom are based in New Zealand, had not responded to their requests for information.

BDO Australia will seek to report the directors to financial regulator ASIC.

Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb believe the group has been unable to pay its debts since September last year.

In terms of assets, the restaurants contain hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food and alcohol.

The Canberra Botswana Butchery, which only opened in January, had $19,327 worth of food and $67,236 worth of drinks

The value of the goods in the restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne was even higher.

The Melbourne steakhouse had $58,906 worth of food and $168,493 worth of drinks.

The Sydney restaurant had an estimated value of approximately $28,701 during an inventory, while the alcohol products totaled $119,181.

However, Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb noted that ‘the majority of food supplies were perishable and would therefore be of very limited value in a liquidation scenario’.

While Botswana Butchery restaurants are still open, they have incurred operating losses totaling $207,000.

Administrators recommended that the group be put into liquidation.

The report found that before their closure, White and Wongs and the Wong Baby Chapel had also been operating at a loss since they opened with money from the New Zealand group that kept them afloat.

The owner of Botswana Butchery has closed White and Wong’s restaurants in Martin Place in Sydney and Chadstone in Melbourne, and Wong Baby in Chapel St in Melbourne.

“The locations have been unprofitable since they opened,” the managers said.

‘The group owes $9.3 million in intercompany loans to New Zealand entities. The group has been dependent on the New Zealand entities to finance day-to-day operations and trading losses.”

Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb noted the hospitality group’s launch in Australia was bad times as it “coincided” with the Covid pandemic.

The ensuing cost of living crisis sealed the group’s fate, with operating costs rising 10 percent every month.