Oddbins lowers administration payout forecast

Oddbins creditors face receiving just 7.5 pence in the pound should the Company Voluntary Arrangement not be accepted at tomorrow’s creditors meeting in London, after forecasts for payouts should the retailer enter administration were downgraded.

Initial forecasts had speculated that creditors would be set to receive 13 pence in the pound should the CVA be rejected tomorrow (Thursday 31 March), which would see the company placed into administration at a court hearing on 4 April.

A spokeswoman told the drinks business that news of the downgraded forecast was confirmed to her by Oddbins managing director Simon Baile yesterday evening.

Under the terms of the CVA, creditors would receive 21 pence in every pound they are owed by the floundering chain.

Speaking to the drinks business earlier this week, Baile said that should the company be placed into administration, creditors could not be sure that they would receive the funds laid out in the forecasts.

He highlighted the the fact some creditors of First Quench Retail – the now-defunct owner of Thresher’s and Wine Rack – are yet to see any sort of repayment, with latest figures suggesting they might get as little as two pence back in the pound.

The plight of the UK’s high street off licence trade was brought under the spotlight yet again this week as it was announced Britain’s oldest off licence – Bakers Wine Merchants in Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire, has been forced to close.

The store, which opened in 1671 and has seen 15 monarchs come and go – and once even supplied wines to Buckingham Palace for royal banquets – has run dry under pressure from high rents and, according to the owners, the threat of a new Sainsbury’s store opening nearby.

Store manager Oliver Bartle said: "It is a real shame because this place is steeped in history and so many residents have told us how disappointed they are that we have closed.

“The threat of Sainsbury’s has been hanging over us for a long time now and with that decision being delayed, we were unable to put plans in place for investment.”

Alan Lodge, 30.03.2011