Gary Neville and MasterChef star forced to shut restaurant and put company into liquidation with £1m debt
GARY Neville’s Leeds restaurant has gone into liquidation with debts reported at £1 Million – including £519k owed in taxes.
His eatery called The Man Behind the Curtain was set-up in 2014 and run by chef Micheal O’Hare with Neville owning 50 percent via Relentless Leisure.
Sky Sports pundit Gary’s company owed £366,848 – according to a Statement of Affairs filed at Companies House.
Signed off by O’Hare last month it reports £9,500 in estimated assets for creditors, a director’s loan owed at £500,000 described as ‘uncertain’ for payback, with fixtures and fittings – worth £152,973 also having an ‘uncertain’ value.
Banks are reported as being owed £14,000, with HMRC’s debt comprising two bills £119,090 and £400,194.
The accounts for 2023 are overdue, those for 2022 reported a £187,000 profit and reserves at £105,938.
Despite the liquidation O’Hare is continuing to trade from the site as Psycho Sandbar.
Ex-England and Manchester United defender Neville posted this on LinkedIn seven months ago: “A few years ago I signed one of the most instinctive and incredible deals that I’ve ever done when I went into partnership with Michael O’Hare on “The Man Behind The Curtain” restaurant in Leeds.
“At the end of a meal I had at the restaurant, Michael presented me with the bill, but it wasn’t a normal bill, it was a bill that had a figure on it accompanied with a note that said this will give you 50% of the restaurant.
“From that moment on I was the co-owner of a Michelin star restaurant in Leeds!
“Fast forward to today and it’s taken a brave and courageous decision for Michael to give up his Michelin star and open a new restaurant, Psycho Sandbar, that I went to earlier on in the week.
“It’s a sensational restaurant with an unbelievable experience and a brilliant job from Michael and his team. If you ever get the chance to visit, I highly recommend it.”
Michael appeared on the 2016 series of Masterchef and since then has featured on cooking shows including the Great British Menu.