New boss tackles Cinnamon Club's £1m debt
Westminster restaurant the Cinnamon Club is to undergo major financial surgery after admitting it owed the Government £1m in unpaid taxes.
The Indian restaurant is understood to have accrued debts in PAYE and VAT returns in its first few years of trading.
Corporate restructuring firm Begbies Traynor has been appointed to help the restaurant pay off its debts through staged payments, and accountants BDO Stoy Hayward will review accounting practices.
Cinnamon Club managing director Rohit Chugh said the board's decision to bring in a new management team last January was "not directly related to the debt".
Then, former sales and marketing director Iqbal Wahhab and former managing director John Turner both ceased operational duties.
Chugh announced the restaurant was looking to expand into Europe and the Middle East and expected to open its first international site in the latter half of next year.
He also confirmed the company was working on a new, related restaurant concept for the UK.
Wahhab retains a minority shareholding in the Cinnamon Club and Turner remains on the restaurant's board of directors.