Chill wind blows for Scottish restaurateurs
Two Scottish restaurant companies have gone into receivership or liquidation over the festive period.
Applecraft Ltd, trading as Leonardo & Company, has gone intoreceivership, while Banana Brothers, which operated a soup, sandwich and fruit bar has gone into liquidation.
Leonardo's employs about 120 full-time staff and a similar number of part-timers in its seven restaurants in Dundee, Glasgow, Stirling and Aberdeen.
Receivers Bruce Cartwright and Iain Bennet of PricewaterhouseCoopers believe it may be possible to sell the company as a going concern because of its strong brand and good locations.
The company went into receivership having failed to achieve the growth it needed to service debts incurred to fund significant investment in the chain.
Banana Brothers, which operated a café, bar and restaurant in the centre of Glasgow during the festive season in addition to its regular site in the city centre, brought an American idea of giving away a piece of fruit - usually a banana - with each meal order.
The company employed about 25 employees and the news was broken to suppliers by letter on Christmas Eve. The company was run by Scottish Hotel School-trained businessman Chris Risbey.