Pernickety calls in receivers
Cheshire-based pub chain Pernickety has gone into receivership.
Receivers at PricewaterhouseCoopers are looking for bidders for the chain, which it believes it will be able to sell as a going concern.
Pernickety's 10 pubs, which traded under the name Pernickety Inns, are in Cheshire, Staffordshire, Nottingham and Worcestershire.
The chain had an annual turnover of about £4m and employed 250 people. There have been just two redundancies.
A spokesman for the receivers said Pernickety was suffering cash flow problems. It had spent more than £2m in capital investment over the past 18 months.
The company went into receivership on 14 July. Since then, the pubs have been run by Albion Contracts, a specialist interim management company appointed by the receivers.
Pernickety was owned by a few investors with venture capital backing. It chairman was Bob Holroyd, formerly a partner in the food logistics company Holroyd Meek. Managing director and major shareholder Tim Doubleday was an accountant.
The pubs opened two years ago. Pernickety had a predicted turnover of £6m.
by Linley Boniface
